Take My Pain Away
by IndianaCombs
Summary: For most of her life, Lucy has been abused by her father. He blames her for her mother's death. As time goes on, the abuse gets worse. One day, Lucy can't take it anymore. When she wakes up in the hospital, she is taken away from her father to live in Magnolia. She is also enrolled in Fairy Tail High School. There, her life begins to get better, but a big surprise awaits her there.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Well. Although I have read many Fairy Tail fanfiction, this is the first one that I am actually writing. I have no clue whether anyone will like it or not. I suppose it may be too dark for some readers, some messed up stuff happens. I don't know. I just came up with this idea one day and rolled with it. Anyway, I would appreciate some nice reviews or some constructive criticism on anything I may improve upon.**

 **Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail. I don't know if I have to put that anywhere or not, but I've seen it on most of the stories I've read.**

 **I also don't know how often I will update, but I plan on it nonetheless. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading!**

 **Chapter 1: Waking Up**

 **Lucy POV**

 _Pain. All I feel is pain. My arms are so sore! All I see is black. Was it enough? My insides are boiling, I just want to rip them out! I smell blood. A lot of it. Where am I? Did I do it? Am I finally free? I see a white light. It's very dim, but it's there. I think I can hear someone calling to me. Is that you? Are you here, Mommy? I wish I could have known you. Wait. Pink hair? Who is that? I can feel my body moving, but I can't move myself. Where is Mommy? Why can't I finally meet her? I was so close! I'll be back to see you later, Mommy…_

 **~July 2nd** **At the Hospital~**

I could faintly hear the steady beep of one of those heart monitors nearby. The noise became louder as slowly drifted closer to consciousness. I keep my eyes closed for a few minutes as I listen for any other sounds and try to determine where I am and why. Being as how I can't seem to remember, I decide to open my eyes. White. The entire room is white, and its relatively barren. I must been in the hospital. Again. Did He go too far again? Wait, didn't He have a business meeting to get to? All I remember is that it was my birthday and I couldn't stop throwing up my empty stomach. But what happened after that?

Before I can answer my own questions, I hear something move a little, to my right. As I look over there, I see my trusty maid sleeping on the couch. She's been like a mother to me for as long as I can remember. With a smile on my face, I just watch her sleep, not wanting to wake her up. But then, I again wonder why I am hooked up to these machines. More importantly, I wonder what He will do when He sees me again. I still feel so weak right now, I can't handle what He would do to me.

My maid, Virgo, stirs a little before waking up. When she notices me watching her, she immediately gets up and calls the doctor in to see me.

"Princess! I'm so glad you're finally awake!" she hugs me as she says this. "I'm sorry I had to go to the store on your 16th birthday, yesterday. You may punish me when you get better."

"Ow, " I reply when she squeezes me too tightly. "It's okay, Virgo. Um, what did He do to me this time?"

"Princess, I'm not sure if you want to hear this right now, but it wasn't Him this time. He is still away on his business trip."

I sit there to process what she just said to me. Then, as the nurse steps into the room, my eyes widen in sudden realization. I start to shake at the memory of what I had done.

"Ah, you're awake, Ms. Lucy," the doctor begins. I think her name is Dr. Ophiuchus. She is a long-friend of Virgo; also, she is the one that usually tends to me when I am in here. Which happens a lot. "We have managed to stabilize your condition, so you should be able to leave here sometime within the next few days." She then looked at Virgo. "Do you want to tell her about it now, or later?"

I was a little worried at this. "T-tell me what?" my voice was a little shaky.

"Lucy," Virgo began, "You are healing nicely, but the… um… the reason that you finally tried this no longer exists."

I looked at her slightly confused before I finally remembered the reason why I finally attempted it. "Y-you mean… You're saying it died?" Even though it had caused me so much pain, I couldn't help but feel a little remorse for causing it to die, too. It didn't deserve that. I did.

"Yes, Lucy. You are no longer pregnant. All of those pills you took, plus how much blood you lost, was just too much for the baby. Besides, it was still pretty young; you were only a couple of weeks pregnant," explained the doctor.

"Will He… Do you guys think He will be mad at me? Maybe we shouldn't even tell Him that I was pregnant," I suggest. I visibly shuddered thinking about what He might do to me if he finds out that I caused someone else to die. I'm too afraid to face Him.

"Princess! You don't need to worry about that, and it's not your fault," Virgo tried to comfort me as I lay there, crying. "He doesn't deserve to call you his daughter! After all the pain He has put you through, I'm taking you away from Him for good! We won't let Him touch you in any way, never again."

"Virgo, what… What are you saying?" I'm confused. What does she mean by 'taking me away'? I tried to commit suicide when I learned I was pregnant; I have tried to get away before. Apparently, it never works. So, what could Virgo mean? What could she do that I couldn't?

"Princess, Ophiuchus and I have talked it over. We won't let that bastard be near you any more. When you get released from here, you and I are moving to Magnolia together," the pinkette spoke with such conviction, I almost believed that we could escape His wrath. Every single time that I tried to escape before, He managed to catch me; each time that happened, the punishment was more agonizing than the usual treatment.

I started sobbing uncontrollably. It was hopeless, I'll never get away… "Ms. Lucy," the doctor interrupted my thoughts. "We haven't told your father, yet. And he won't be back for a few more days. While you were still out, Virgo went back to the mansion and gathered some of your things."

"Yes, Princess. I also took enough money for us to use, but not enough for Mr. Heartfilia to notice any missing. We will be ready to leave as soon as you are well enough." Virgo had such confidence; all I could do was nod in agreement. I couldn't bring her hopes down.

"But, what if… *sob* what if He comes looking for us? There won't be any way to stop Him. When He finds out, He'll beat me again!" I burst into another fit of tears. It was getting hard to breathe like this.

"Don't worry, Princess. We can convince him that you didn't make it. With all that blood on the floor, I will just tell him that someone came in and attacked you. You know that he wouldn't give a damn if you died." Virgo was also on the verge of tears. "I can also send in my letter of resignation, and I'll get a new job in Magnolia."

"Okay, Virgo. But, where would we stay? And what would I do all day if you have a job to go to? I can't be left without you everyday," I sobbed. "You mean too much to me!" I shouted the last part, feeling a little guilty that I tried to leave her. I hugged her tight.

"Don't worry, Ms. Lucy," Ophiuchus said, patting my back. "Virgo and I have a few friends that live there if you two can't find a place for yourselves."

"Lucy," Virgo leaned out of the hug a bit," I think that, when summer is over, you should start going to the local school there." Again, I looked at her with a look of confusion plastered on my face. "Princess, it would give you a chance to get your mind clear and focus on something else for a change. I'm sure that school would help you recuperate from all the things that bastard did to you. You didn't deserve any of it. You're a good girl, Lucy."

I feel fresh tears streaming down my face as I hug the woman that's been like a mother to me. "What… whatever you say, Virgo. I'll think about school, though. How long do I have to decide?"

"As long as you need, Princess. However, it would be best to start school at the beginning of the semester." Ophiuchus has already left us to talk alone together.

"I-I… I'm so sorry I did this! If only… If only mom were still alive! Why… *sob* Why did she have to die when I was born? Tell me why, Virgo." I wept into her shoulder; we never really talked about my mother, much. Dad forbade it a while ago.

"I don't know, Princess. I don't know." With that, we spent the rest of the night talking about our future lives in Magnolia. We didn't mention my abusive father again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: This chapter is a almost twice as long as the first one, I think. I had a lot I wanted to cover. And in case you were wondering, I used italics to signify a dream. I might even put one at the start of each chapter. I don't know yet. Anyway, I hope chapter two is good enough. Thanks for taking the time to read it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

 **P.S. I probably won't be updating this often. I just had some ideas I had to get out of my head for this chapter. Sorry for any mistakes I miss. I already found some in the first chapter that I didn't see before.**

 **Chapter 2: A New Start**

 **Lucy POV**

 _There I am. Or was. Rushing into my father's study with a little rice ball in my hands. I was so eager to give it to Daddy and make him feel better. At the time, I don't get it. Papa's always grumpy and he hardly even looks at me. Maybe it has something to do with Momma. I never knew her. I don't know why she isn't here. But, today is my 6th birthday, and I just want to remind Daddy that he can talk to me if it makes him feel better. I had a fun time with Virgo earlier. She taught me how to play hopscotch. Maybe Daddy's hungry. Maybe that's why he forgot my birthday again._

" _Hey, Daddy, I made you something." I say to him. "I thought you might be hungry." He doesn't even look at me. "Okay, Daddy. I'll just leave it here on your desk." Still no reaction from him. I can't keep the question to myself any more. "Daddy, where's Mommy?"_

 _This causes hims to turn and look right at me. He then reaches for the ball I had set down. Thinking he's going to eat it, a smile forms on my face; it disappears once he throws it on the ground and stomps on it._

" _Don't you dare talk about your mother!" he yells at me. He never did that before, so I was a little scared. I start to back away to leave, but he catches me before I can. "It's all your fault!" and he hits me. It hurt so much, I start to cry._

" _Daddy, why did you hit me?" He does it again and I fall to the floor._

" _You deserve it! It's your fault she's gone!" Again, I feel the terrible pain._

" _Daddy! Please, stop!" And I slowly feel my mind drifting away. Before he can strike again, Virgo rushes into the room._

" _Mr. Heartfilia, you need to stop! She's your daughter!" She tries to get me away from him._

" _I don't give a damn! It's all her fault!" then he hits Virgo before she can get to me. And all goes blank._

 **July 8th** **Magnolia Station**

I wake up as the train jolts to a stop. I am covered in sweat from my nightmare. I never forget that first day that it all began. How could I, when I am forced to relive it almost every night? Virgo is awake, too, and I can tell that she was watching me with worry in her eyes. She knows she can't stop my nightmares. She tried. I feel sorry for her, knowing that I am the cause of her suffering. She wasn't able to stop my father before. Whenever she tried to, she would get punished. But it was always worse for me. Virgo eventually gave up on trying to stop my father from hitting me because, when she did try to stop him, my punishment would be way worse than Virgo's.

"Are you okay now, Princess?" my pink-haired caretaker inquired. I merely nod. "I already sent our things to the house. They should be waiting for us once we find it."

"This is Magnolia, right?" I ask as I glance out the window. When she says yes, we both get up to leave the train. Once off, I look around the station with curious eyes. After all, I've only really been inside the mansion and at the hospital. This is all so new to me. "Finally, some fresh air." I breath it in.

"Yes, Princess. A change of scenery is just what you needed. Come on, let's go." She leads the way.

I notice that she has no trouble finding her way through this town, so I ask, "Have you been here before, Virgo?"

"Yes, I have. In fact, Lucy, this is the town I grew up in. My sister still lives here, and her daughter should be about your age, actually." The maid explains all this in her usual monotone voice.

I looked around with renewed curiosity. So this is where she is from. We are currently walking through a park. I watch the trees sway slightly in the breeze, creaking, almost as if in annoyance at being disturbed. There are several people nearby, some sitting on benches, others in the shade under the trees. I begin to feel a little uncomfortable around so many strangers.

"Virgo, h-how much farther?" I ask as I get a little closer to her.

"We're almost there, Lucy. Just a couple more blocks, don't worry," she responds as we are exiting the park. "Oh, and Princess. I forgot to tell you, but I'm sure that you won't mind what I did."

"What are you talking about?"

"In order to ease your mind a little, I took the liberty of changing your last name for you." She then stops and looks at me.

"You mean, I won't be Lucy 'Heartfilia' anymore? What did you change my name to?" I wonder what it could be. Then a thought pops into my head and right out of my mouth. "Do I share your last name, now?"

"Of course. I couldn't think of anything else, really. So, from now on, your name is Lucy Maiden. Unless of course you don't like it. If that's the case, then you may punish me, Princess." Still the same monotone voice she has.

"I love it, VIrgo!" I hug her. "It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but you have always been a mother to me. I wouldn't have it any other way." Once again, a few tears threaten to escape my brown orbs. However, unlike before, they are tears of joy.

After walking in silence for a few more minutes, Virgo brings us to a stop. "Here it is, Princess. This will be our new home."

I just stood there, staring at the house. It isn't anything like the mansion, which should be a good thing. Yet, I can't help but get the feeling that I won't be able to accept living here. I've known the mansion my whole life; it isn't easy to picture myself anywhere else, except maybe the hospital. Gulping, I follow Virgo inside the yellow house.

It is a decent sized house, or so I figure. It's got two floors with a big living room on the first floor. Also, through the living room I find the dining room and the kitchen. Thanks to Virgo's teaching, I love to cook and I am actually quite skilled at it. This kitchen is big enough to suit all of our cooking needs and more. There is already a small table and a few chairs set up in the dining room; also, a sofa and TV are in the living room. Aside from that, the bottom floor is littered with boxes full of our things from the mansion.

Going up the stairs to the second floor, I see a hallway with a window down at the end. On each side of the hallway, there are three doors. Further inspection reveals one of them to be a big bathroom, another door leads to a closet, and the other four are bedrooms. The bathroom and closet are on opposite walls, with two bedrooms on each side of the hall. Going into the bedrooms on the right, I see that there is another bathroom that connects the two rooms. The last bedroom on the left has its own personal bathroom with a shower, but no tub.

The walls are pink in this room, and it has a decently sized closet. I choose it as mine, especially since the walls are painted pink. Pink happens to be my favorite color. Virgo takes the room across from mine. With this settled, we begin to unpack, using the two spare rooms for storage.

"Princess, the beds I ordered should arrive later this week. I will be back soon, I need to go buy some groceries," my companion told me.

"Alright, Virgo. Hey, is it… um… Is it alright if I call you Mom?" I ask.

She hugs me again. "If that is what you want, then it's perfectly fine with me, Princess." with that, she left.

 **August 8th**

A month later, and I still don't know if I want to go to school. Virgo has been searching for a job, too, and I think she finally found something she wants to do. She won't have to begin until school starts, though. Knowing her, she probably choose something similar to her last job. She loves the work, she just didn't like her previous employer. She only stayed working for my dad for so long because of me. It's my fault she had to suffer like that.

*Ding* The timer for the oven went off. I can already smell the delicious cookies that Virgo baked. She immediately walks into the room to pull them out.

"Here you go, Princess. You try the first one," she said as she handed me a cookie.

"What if they're poisoned, Mom?" I joked. It still seems a little weird to call her that, but it makes me feel a little better. Without waiting for a reply, I quickly bite into the chocolate chip cookie she handed me. "Mmm," I moan as it melts in my mouth. "Virgo, these are the best! How come I can't make cookies this good?"

She laughs at me for saying that. "Lucy. All you have to do to get this good is spend several years doing the work that I do. Then you can make anything taste like this."

"No offense, but I don't wanna be someone's maid," I reply.

"None taken. Have you given any thoughts to school?"

"Hmm." I think for a few moments. "I think… Yes, I think I can give it a try. For a little while, at least. But, i probably won't like it." I'm already starting to doubt my decision.

"Princess, in order to motivate you more, I promise I will bake you some more cookies for every week that you go to school. How does that sound?"

"It's a little better. I just don't know what they will all think about me. I'm too nervous to face them. What if they ask how I got these scars?" I almost don't want to take the cookie deal at this point.

Virgo sits there quietly, probably thinking about what I said. Maybe I could just wear clothes that cover up my battered body. We both reach for another cookie to help us think. The other students are probably better looking than me. And smarter. I don't think anyone would want to be friends with me. I'm too broken. I'm too dirty…

I get up to go to my room, locking the door behind me. I search for the object that has been my best friend for the past year. Hidden in a box under my bed, I pull out the knife. So I don't mess up my room, I go to the bathroom that's in it. I look at myself in the mirror.

I'm too ugly. I cut.

It's all my fault. I cut.

I don't belong anywhere. I cut.

No one loves me. I… I put down the blade as I think of Virgo. I have to try to be stronger for her. I wash my fresh wounds. This is the least that I've done to myself since I first started doing it. Things can get better. I hope.

I return to my bed and cry myself to sleep.

 **September 8th**

"Princess, you need to wake up. Your breakfast is getting cold," she speaks as she attempts to open my door. I had locked it last night after another session of self-guilt and pain. I was also nervous about today. I didn't even find out the name of the school until last week. I believe it's called Fairy Tail High School. I am going to go as a Sophomore. I still don't even know what classes I have, or who my teachers are. Heck, I haven't even seen the place, yet.

Against my better judgement, I drag myself out of bed to get ready. I picked my clothes out last night. I hope they don't make too much fun of me for it. After a quick shower, I put on my bra and panties. They're pink. Next, I put on some grey sweatpants and a green shirt with long sleeves. Over that goes my pink hoodie. I already made sure that I can hide my face inside the hood. I tried to get gloves to wear, too, but I forgot to buy some. Last, I put on my socks and black tennis shoes. I don't want anyone to be able to see me or my skin. I have too many cuts and bruises.

Then, I gasp and quickly rush out of the room as I just remembered about breakfast. When I get to the dining room, Virgo is just now putting the food down. "Virgo! I thought it was done earlier. Why did you tell me it was getting cold?"

"I knew you would take a while, so I gave you some time to get ready and down here before I finished. It worked, didn't it?" Virgo inquired.

That's when I smell the food. It looks delicious, too. I can't wait to dig in. It looks like Virgo made my favorite: blueberry waffles with whip cream and a strawberry on top. There's also some scrambled eggs and bacon, too. She is just too amazing. I eat it all with the grace that I was raised with. I finish off my meal by drinking the fresh-squeezed orange juice that Virgo set out.

"Thanks, Virgo! That was delicious. Well, I'll be going now," she stops me after I pick up my bag.

"Excuse me, Princess. I was going to drive you to school today," she explained.

"You can't do that! You have to get to your new job, right?" I ask her.

"That can wait for today. I want to see you go to school just this once. Besides, I work at Fairy Hills. It is the dorms provided for the students that attend Fairy Tail. Meaning, I have the whole school day to get my work done. I should be able to do it within half that time. Maybe less." When she finishes her little speech, she grabs her keys and follows me out the door.

When I open the passenger door of the car, a blue cat comes from nowhere and jumps in. Wait. A **blue** cat? What the heck? When I pick it up, it snuggles closer to my chest and purrs. Hey. It likes me. Maybe I could keep it. It would be my first friend… Wait, it has a collar. And there's an address on it. This cat belongs to the house next door. I haven't met any of our neighbors, yet. Sighing, I put the cat down and hop in the car.

Virgo wastes no time driving to the school, to my deepest regret. So, I ask her, "What's your rush? At this rate, I'm going to be early."

"Sorry, Princess. I'm just eager to see my old school. You know, your mother loved this placed. It's where she met me and all of our other friends." Virgo spoke with a hint of regret in her voice. Or maybe it was sorrow. Mom must have been a wonderful woman.

The car pulled to a stop, right in front of the gates. I didn't want to go. I already had my hood up, but I just sit there and pull my legs onto the seat. I pout and face forward.

Seeing my behavior, Virgo says," Look, Lucy, I know this is hard on you. You're going to be fine. If this school is anything like it used to be, then it's full of good people. No one here will hurt you. Just try to make friends, okay?"

I still don't budge. At least, not until a knock on my window startles me and causes me to jump. I look out to see a person with pink hair grinning at me in the stupidest way. Actually, Virgo's hair is pink. His is more of a salmon color...


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: This chapter is almost 4000 words long. It's in Natsu's POV for a little bit at the beginning, but it goes back to Lucy. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not too good at making last names. So, sorry if Aquarius' name isn't that good. Or Virgo's, for that matter. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them. Also for the other celestial spirits since I will include some more in this story. Thank you!**

 **Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima is the owner of Fairy Tail.**

 **Chapter 3: Pink and Curious**

 **Natsu POV**

 _I leave my house like I do every morning. Why does Uncle always make ME get the paper and the mail? What am I, a dog? I mean, it's so far away. Right by the road. I would rather be eating right now! I'm so hungry. It's already been like 45 minutes since breakfast! The worst part is, there isn't even anything to see on my walk across the front yard. I can't even talk to the neighbor anymore. He moved away, complaining about me burning his grass, or something._

 _I sigh. That house has been empty more times than how many people have lived there. It didn't take long for the first ones to go away after we moved here, almost 13 years ago. Right after my old house burned down…_

 _Wait. Didn't I see some people moving a lot of boxes into that yellow house yesterday? Ooooh! I hope we have new neighbors! And I hope they won't mind the singed grass. I think I see a couple people moving this way. I don't think they've seen me yet, so I'll just hide behind this bush so I'm not in their way. Huh. I haven't seen them around here before. And I think they're both female…_

 _The one has pink hair, similar to my salmon hair, but pink. And the other… Oh my gosh! That blonde girl looks amazing! Also, she seems to be around the same age as me. But why does she look so sad? Did someone tell her that I might accidently scorch her house? I wish I could comfort her, but I can't. My legs won't let me move. I just stand there, behind a bush, watching them walk into the yellow house; it's almost like I'm some creep or something. I hope that girl goes to the same school as me. I can't wait to see her again._

 _I look down as something blue brushes against my legs…_

 **September 8th Outside Fairy Tail**

I still think about that day, two months ago, when I saw that blonde girl. I haven't talked to her or anything, yet. I haven't even seen her again. She has stayed inside that house the whole time, unless she left when I was asleep. The older woman with pink hair has left almost every day. Not that I've been watching their house this whole time. That girl must've taken a room on the other side of the house because I only see the pinkette in the rooms that have a window facing my house. I wonder why they live alone like that.

Right now, I'm busy walking towards my first day of school this year. Uncle made me leave early today so I'm not late like usual. What he doesn't know is that I would have run to school if it would allow me to find out of that girl goes to Fairy Tail. I see the gates up ahead. Hmm. I should hurry so I can get a punch in on Ice Princess for what he did this summer. Whatever it was. I'm sure he deserves it. So, I quicken my pace.

That's when the most wonderful smell fills my nose. Strawberries with a hint of vanilla. I can almost taste them as my mouth begins to water. I then hear a car drive past me slowly and it parks in front of the gates. Curious, I stop and wait to see who gets out.

A few minutes later and it's still sitting there! By now, I figured out that the smell of strawberries must be coming from that car. Mmmmm. I start to walk forwards again. The two people inside don't seem to notice me waiting for them. Maybe they're talking? Oh well. I can't wait any longer.

I put the biggest grin I can muster on my face and tap on the window to get their attention. That person is weird. Why did they just freak out like that? Such a weirdo, I chuckle to myself.

 **Lucy POV**

I just stare out the window at this guy. What is he doing here? Who is he? Why does he have that stupid grin on his face? Seeming a little impatient, this guy knocks on my window again, a little more urgently this time. Worrying a little that he might have some problem he needs help with, I let my sensitive side take over as I finally exit the car to lend him a hand.

I was hardly ever farther from the truth.

"Yo!" he says to me like we've been best buddies forever. "Can I have some?" Okay. Now I'm extremely confused. Can he have some what? Wait. Does he want _that_? I back away slightly, afraid of what he's gonna do to me.

"Stay away," I tell him.

"I was right. You are a weirdo." Why does he think I'm weird? I guess no one will like me here after all. "I just want to know if you will share some of them with me." The look on his face tells me he hasn't eaten in at least three days. Does he think I have food for him?

Timidly, I ask in a quiet voice, "Share some what? I don't know what you're talking about, mister." Please just go away, I silently beg.

"Some of your strawberries!" he replies as if I should have know what he meant the whole time. He has such hope in his eyes that I can't help but feel a little guilty that I'm about to kill… I mean 'crush' his dreams.

"Sorry, but I don't have any. Why would even you think that? I don't even know you." The look of disappointment on his face is a little cute. Wait, why would I think something like that?

"Aww man! I was waiting here forever for you to get out of your car so you could give me some strawberries! How could you let me starve! I thought we could've been friends," he mumbles the last part, probably thinking that I can't hear it. But I did.

"You didn't answer my question," I remind him when it's apparent that he won't bring it back up.

"Oh, that. I could smell them on you. Did you already eat them all? And you didn't save any for me?" More disappointment spreads across his face. I blush at the first part he said.

"Sm-smell? You were smelling me? And you call ME weird," I practically shout at him.

"You're the one that smells like strawberries and vanilla. Humans don't smell that way. Strawberries and vanilla do." I giggle slightly at his simple-minded logic.

"I smell like that because of the body wash I use. I'm sure many other people use it, too."

"Yeah, but the smell clings to you like it's your natural odor. It's sweet and delicate." His face is so serious when he says this. It's like he doesn't know what he just said to me.

I feel my cheeks heat up to a light pink. So he thinks I'm sweet and delicate? Well, he's not bad himself. I mean, look at him. He probably works out a lot if his abs are that toned. And he does look a little cute...

"Princess, I'll be going now. Don't forget to get your schedule and make many friends at school today." Damn. I forgot Virgo was still here. There goes my last chance of skipping school.

"Yeah, thanks, Mom. See you later at home!" I wave to her as she drives away. When I turn around back to the boy who said I was weird, I am met with an unfamiliar sight.

"Please accept my apologies, Miss," Natsu spoke in a very repentant voice. He must be serious about this apology. However, it only freaked me out because he was kneeling on the ground at my feet. He almost seemed afraid to look up and get reprimanded or something. Then he continues, "I am so sorry for disturbing your Majesty. I did not realize that you were a Princess. Please forgive me. I won't do it again."

This has me dumbstruck for a moment. Then it dawns on me. "Look, I'm not a princess. My… mom, she just calls me that. There isn't anything remotely worthy of royalty about me. You can get up if you want."

With that said, he gets up and looks like he's mentally calling himself an idiot. "Well, don't I feel stupid." Yup, he just confirmed it. "But, if you don't mind me saying so, your voice could match an angel's." I am not the only one that blushes at his statement. Boy am I glad that I have this hood up.

"Thanks, but you don't need to try to make me feel better. I know who I am." Then, a thought occurs to me, so I voice it. "Oh, wait, do you go to school here?" He nods in response. "Well, I just moved into town recently, so I'm new here. What's your name?"

"Natsu. Natsu Dragneel. Who are you? And why do you have that hood on? It's pretty hot today."

"I'm Lucy Hear… er… Lucy Maiden. And you're one to talk! What's with that scarf?" I need to remember my new name. I can't have anyone here figuring out who I am. They might send me back to Him.

"I don't feel the heat. And my dad gave this to me. It's what I have to remember him by." A look of sorrow crossed his face as he said this, so I just decide not to inquire further. It seems we might have some things in common. By the way he said that, we both lost someone. Then, he scrunches his nose and leans in closer to me to smell. "Why do you smell like Happy?"

"First off, back up a bit, Natsu. Second, I don't know who you're talking about." Who is Happy? How can he even smell so much with that nose of his?

"My cat. He's blue. You didn't catnap him, did you?" There was a slight look of menace in his eyes as he said this.

"Wait, that was your cat? Does that mean you're my neighbor?" I say incredulously. I live so far away from the school, why was he walking here?

"That was YOU!" he practically shouts, causing me to stumble backwards and fall to the ground.

I knew it. No one could ever like me. No one here would ever be my friend. Why did I even talk to him so much? That was the longest time I've talked to someone other than Virgo, and he's already decided he hates me. He must've seen me at the house before I covered up my scars. Good thing I took my extra knife with me today; guess I'll be needing it. I…

He interrupts my thoughts by holding his hand out to me. I look from it to his face to see concern latched onto it. Why does he care? He's probably just mocking me or something. Yet, I still feel compelled to take his hand. And instead of pulling it back when I'm about to grab onto it like I thought he would, he helps me to stand on my feet again.

"I'm so sorry, Lucy," he says while rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I was just surprised that I finally got to meet you like I wanted since the day you moved in. And why are you hiding your face in that hoodie? Don't you want people to see you?" Did I just hear right? He wanted to meet ME, of all people? Bruised, dirty, ugly little me?

"Why did you want to meet me so badly? I didn't see anyone out when I first moved in, so when did you see me?" Maybe I was too distracted with my thoughts to notice him at the time. I ignore his questions, but he doesn't seem to notice.

"Well, about that," he starts to blush and rubs the back of his head in embarrassment this time. "You probably didn't see me because I was hiding behind a bush." Then his blush deepens from a light pink to a deep red. "And, well, I wanted to meet you because I think you're…" *Ding DIng DIng* A loud bell interrupts him as he's speaking.

What did he say? I couldn't hear what he had said through the noise and I also wasn't able to read his lips when he said it.

"Oh no! I'm late again! So much for leaving early," a wide grin makes its way onto his face as he talks. Hold on a second. Late? That was the late bell? Ugh! Virgo's not going to be happy. I better get going to class. "C'mon, Luce. we gotta go. What class do you have first?" My mouth falls open as I realize that I don't even know, yet.

"N-Natsu, I still need to pick up my schedule. And I don't even know where to get it at." I start to walk closer to the gates because we're still outside.

"Why didn't you say so. I'll take you there. Follow me!" With that, he grabs my hand and starts to run. Strange enough, if feels somewhat comfortable to have his hand in mine. That's the only thing stopping me from ripping them apart.

"Natsu! Slow down, you're dragging me!" To my surprise, he listens to me and walks instead. "Natsu, you don't have to do this for me. It's my fault I'm late. Besides, you will be even more late to class. You should just go-"

"Nonsense. You would've been in school already if it weren't for me. And my teacher expects me to be late, so it's no big deal. Anyways, Gramps can be pretty scary, you won't want to face him by yourself." After he says this, we finish walking down the third hallway that we've entered. How big is this place? You couldn't see a whole lot from the outside because of the fence and the trees that surround it. "Here we are!"

Suddenly, my hand feels a lot colder. Looking down at it, I realize that Natsu finally let go. Why am I so disappointed?

"Hello, what brings you here so soon, Natsu?" I hear a silvery voice speak. "Did you get in another fight?" I look at the voice's owner to see the most beautiful female with long, silver hair. She seems to be around my age, so why is she working in the office? I wish I were that pretty. Then another thought pops into my head. Why did she say that like Natsu get into fights all the time? He's starting to scare me. Even more than before.

"Hey, Mira. I was just helping Lucy here pick up her schedule. It's kinda my fault that we're both late." Natsu didn't even react to Mira's question; it's like he was expecting her to say that. "She's new to Fairy Tail." There goes that grin of his.

"Natsu! You should be more careful. If you don't hurry, I'll have to tell Erza." Then Mira looks at me and smiles. "Hello, Lucy. My name is Mirajane Strauss. I am the Office Assistant for first period, but we may have a few other classes together. It wouldn't be many, though, because I'm a Senior this year. Anyway, Principal Makarov should have your schedule in his office." She points to a closed door behind her. "Just go through that door and you'll find him."

"Thanks," I say as I walk to the door she indicated.

She continues to speak to me, which amazes me. Why would she want to talk to me even more? "Sorry for Natsu, by the way. He can get a bit carried away, sometimes. But he means well. It was nice meeting you, Lucy. Goodluck!" And she waved at me as I enter the Principal's Office.

What does she mean by 'goodluck'? Will I be in a lot of trouble? Is there going to be punishment? NO, Lucy! This place is different! That was only your father. If there is any punishment, I'm sure it won't be THAT.

Nevertheless, I still feel really nervous about this encounter.

Upon entering the room, I am met with the back of a big chair behind a large desk. And by big chair, I mean a HUGE chair with a tall back. This, coupled with the large desk, lead me to wonder just how big and scary this man is.

"E-excuse me? Sir?" I begin. "I'm here to… um… to p-pick up m-my schedule?" I question with a noticeable stutter.

Slowly, the chair begins to turn around. My fear only increases as I find myself with no escape; my feet are stuck to the ground. Astonished at what I end up seeing, I feel like such an idiot.

"Yes, I've been expecting you, Lucy. What caused you to be so late to school? Or did you just have a tough time finding your way around? If that's the case, I could have Ms. Mirajane give you a tour," the man spoke, ending the silence that I found rather uncomfortable. This man, despite my original logic, was actually quite short. And old. In fact, there wasn't really anything that scary about him, to my utter relief. Also, for some strange reason, he seems familiar to me, like I've seen him before.

"Sorry, Mr. Principal, sir. I would never have made it if it weren't for Natsu. I would've been lost at the entrance," I shamefully admit. For a brief moment, a look of confusion crosses his face. It passes almost instantly.

"No worries, Ms... Maiden, is it?" I nod. "I understand. Here is your schedule," he hands me it as he says this. "Your first class is homeroom, in room 207. That's on the second floor."

"Thanks, Mr. Makarov…" I trail off, not even knowing what his last name is.

"Dreyar. Makarov Dreyar." When he says that, it almost seems like he is hoping for me to recognize something. Surprisingly, I now remember where I've seen him before.

"Oh, you were a teacher here many years ago, right?" He was in some photos that Virgo showed me from when she went to school here. It took me so long to remember because he looks so different, now. You know, with old age.

By his look of disappointment, this doesn't seem to be what he wanted me to say. "Yes, I was. By any chance, Lucy, did your mother attend Fairy Tail?"

I barely manage to keep myself from crying at the word 'mother'. "Yeah, my mom, Virgo, showed me her high school pictures and your were in some of them."

"Hmmm. Virgo, huh?" He strokes his chin as he thinks for a minute, then he snaps his fingers. "Ah, yes, I remember Virgo. Pink hair, I believe. Her little band of friends were quite the troublemakers, as I recall." That doesn't sound like the Virgo I know. Maybe people do change. Maybe Virgo was right when she said my father used to be different, that he used to be a kind man. If that's true, then it really is might fault for everything that's happened to me…

"... so you'll be having a sub, today." the Principal's voice tears me from my thoughts. How long was he talking?

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I was just telling you that your homeroom teacher is sick with the cold. She won't be back until next week, so you will meet your temporary substitute teacher today," he explains.

"Thanks again, Mr. Dreyar. I better go, now. Bye." Without waiting for a reply, I walk out of the room. Waving to Mira on my way out of the office, I bump into someone's chest.

"Oi, you okay, Luce?" Looking up, I see the same salmon-haired Natsu that led me here. Did he gave me a nickname? He said that earlier, too, I think.

"Natsu, why are you still here? Don't you have to get to class?"

"It can wait. I was gonna show you to your class, first. So c'mon." He grabs my hand and almost drags me again. Feeling the warmth of his hand in mine, I simply follow without any further complaints.

It's just a short walk to the stairs that lead to the second floor. From there, my class is just seven doors down the hallway. It's not long enough in my opinion. Not for holding his hand, at least. Reluctantly letting go once again, we say goodbye and I enter the room.

"What do you want, brat?" an annoyed voice greets my entrance. It came from a pretty woman with long, light-blue hair. "Who are you?"

Obviously a little frightened at her demeanor, I hesitantly answer. "M-my name is Lucy. I'm new here, and I guess this is my class?" I hope it isn't. Everyone's looking at me and the teacher doesn't look happy.

"It's about time, you brat! Look, just introduce yourself to the class and then find a seat. I'm subbing for the real teacher this week. My name is Aquarius Finn. Make one joke, and you'll be dead." The seriousness and irritation in her voice told me that she wasn't joking.

I turn slightly to better view my classmates, keeping an eye on Ms. Aquarius at the same time. Just so I know if I do something wrong. "H-hello. My name is Lucy Maiden and I hope we can get along." I saw the teacher's eyes widen slightly at my name. What is that about?

Once I'm finished, I immediately choose a seat near the back, next to a girl with short blue hair. She waves politely at me as I approach. She seems okay, but I don't want to talk to that many people, yet.

The girl whispers to me as soon as I sit down. "Ms. Aquarius is the coach of the swim team here. She acts like that to everyone. Don't worry, though. Our real teacher, Ms. Dreyar, is actually pretty nice. I'm sure you'll love her." When she's done talking, she smiles at me.

However, I can only wonder how the teacher is related to the principal. I mean, Dreyar isn't a common name. Thankfully, since this girl called her Ms. Dreyar, she can't be his wife. I don't want an old teacher. No offense. So what does she look like? And why does the name Aquarius sound familiar, too?


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey, guys! I was thinking of starting on another one of my story ideas and maybe posting the first chapter for it. Anyway, I was wondering what you guys think about that. I mean, is it too soon? Should I just focus on this story? Go for it? I don't know. I would love to hear what you guys think!**

 **Also, if anyone has any ideas on some things that I could include in this story, it would be a big help. LIke,maybe some events I could include. I already have the next few chapters planned out, but I feel like I should add some more things in.**

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you like this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: The owner of Fairy Tail is Hiro Mashima. Still don't know if I even have to say that.**

 **Chapter 4: Making Friends?**

 **Lucy POV**

 _Today is a rare day. Daddy is letting me play outside. He hasn't done that in about 3 years, ever since I turned 6. Today, he hasn't even hit me yet. Maybe he's finally in a good mood. I better be careful not to make him mad again. Where did Virgo go? She was going to take me to the park. I think she had to get something from the house._

 _Oh, look. There are some other kids playing over there. Maybe I should go to them. But Virgo told me to wait for her. They look like they are having a lot of fun. I can't resist it; I quickly walk over to them, wincing at the bruises on my legs. Finally, I reach them._

" _Hello. My name's Lucy. Can I play with you guys?" I ask them eagerly. There are four of them. I was the only girl._

" _Of course. Come on over and join us," replied a boy with black, spiky hair. "Do your parents know you're here?"_

 _Stifling a cry, I answer. "Not exactly, but I live just over there." I point across the street. "Someone should be coming for me soon, so I'm okay."_

 _Then the boy with bluish-silver hair speaks up. "Hey, how come I don't see you around much if we're neighbors? And why do you have so many bruises?" I avert my eyes for a second as I reply._

" _Um, I fell down the stairs really hard the other day. I'm such a clutz." I don't want to lie, but daddy told me to never tell anyone about how I really got so beat up._

 _The first boy doesn't seem to believe my story. "I've fallen down the stairs many times. And I never get so bruised. You must have a long staircase." He says the last part sarcastically._

 _I change the subject. "So, how do we play this game?" After they explained it to me, I quickly got the hang of it. I had so much fun, I don't know how long I was there. I am so happy to finally have some friends to play with. I want this to last forever. I don't even think about home._

 _That is until I hear a familiar yell coming this way. "What the hell are you doing!" I turn to see my father's angry face directed towards me. As he continues to shout and curse, two of the boys run away. The first two I spoke with remain, trying to explain that we were only playing a game. They don't understand why he is so angry._

 _Suddenly, Daddy grabs my hair and pulls me close so only I can hear what he says. "If you don't tell them to go away now, I'll make them regret talking to you forever." I don't remember much after that. Only my tears and the pain._

 **September 8th, Lunch Time**

"Come on, Lucy," the girl named Levy turned to me as soon as the bell signalling the end to fourth period rang. "You should sit with me and my friends at lunch. They'd love to meet you!"

"I'm not so sure about that, Levy." Me and Levy share the first four classes of the day. She wouldn't stop talking to me whenever we had free time, so I couldn't help but warm up to her. Plus, she shares my love for books. "I mean, what if they don't like me? They might even stop hanging out with you just for being friends with someone like me. I don't want to do that to you." I plead with her to see my reasoning.

"My friends aren't like that, Lucy. And I know they'll like you! What's not to like?" I can see it won't be easy to convince her otherwise.

Before I can reply, a familiar voice takes our attention. "There you are, Luce! I finally found ya. Why didn't you show me your schedule before I left?" Natsu was pouting like a child. Then he drapes his arm over my shoulder and starts to pull me away. "Come have lunch with me. I want you to meet all of my friends."

"You already know Natsu? Lucy, why didn't you say so! Now you have to come with us!" Natsu looks at Levy, just now noticing she's there. "Let's go, Natsu. Lucy needs to eat lunch with us today."

Before I know it, Natsu and Levy are dragging me to the cafeteria. All I can think about is how I would much rather be home right now. There's no way their friends could like me. Could they? I still don't even know why these two seem to like me. I'm sure they wouldn't if I let my hood fall down.

"Do you see them, Natsu?" the bluenette questions the pink one. "Gah! Why do I have to be so short!"

Natsu's face lights up as he points to a table in the middle of the room. "There they are. Hurry up!"

Several people are already sitting at the table I'm brought to. I swiftly count six heads, consisting of five different hair colors. Two of them have silvery white hair. I am easily reminded of that Mira girl from earlier today. Only two of them are female, the rest are males. The situation makes me more than a little uneasy.

Natsu speaks up to get their attention. "Hey guys!" his childish grin soon following. "We'd like you to meet someone. She's new to Fairy Tail this year. Say hi, Lucy." Him and Levy both look at where I used to be. They just now notice that I'm not there anymore. "Um, Luce. Where'd ya go?"

Levy finds me first and pulls me out from behind Natsu. "Here she is." Why, Levy! I almost got away! "She's still a little shy. Take it easy on her." I don't want to hear them reject me. Let alone see their looks of disgust that are sure to appear.

"That means you, Ice Princess!" Natsu yells to some boy with black hair.

"What do you mean by that, Flame Brain?" he shouts back. Soon enough, punches are flying back and forth.

"Cut it out, guys!" the girl with short white hair tells them after noticing how skittish I am right now. "Don't worry about them, Lucy. They do this all the time." Is that supposed to make me feel better? "Oh, my name's Lisanna, by the way."

"But fighting is so manly!" the large guy with white hair practically roars. It wasn't long before he, too, was pulled into the fray. The rest of the school doesn't even seem to care.

"That's my brother. Elfman," Lisanna explains before I can ask.

"Lucy," the brunette was holding out some drink for me to take. "Drink this and you won't be shy anymore." It smelled strongly of alcohol, a smell I am all too familiar with. "Just call me Cana!" she grinned with a slur in her words.

"You should know better than to give some of your drink to someone, Cana." A boy with blue hair and a tattoo around his right eye scolded. "Don't make me tell Erza you have that. It won't be long before she notices. Lucy," he looks at me. "I probably don't have to tell you not to take it. I'm Jellal. It's nice to meet you."

So far, he seems like the most sane guy out of this group. Shyly waiting for the last person to introduce himself, I soon see a sight that causes me to blush.

"Gray, put your clothes on!" the final guy, a blond, shouts. Where have I heard that name before?

"What are you talking about? I'm still wearing…" He looks down at himself to see he is only in his boxers. "Gah! When did that happen!" He sounds genuinely surprised. As if his closed just hopped off his body all on their own.

"Lucy isn't here for five minutes and you're already stripping, Droopy Eyes! What's with you?" Natsu punches Gray once his clothes are back on. And so the fight continues.

"That's it," the blond with the scar on his eye sounded pissed. "It's time for you three to knock it off!" With that, he manages to bring the fight to an end with one punch. Yeah, he's not scary at all… This is all too much to handle. Maybe I should just go home.

"Oi, blondie." What's he talking about? He's blond too! "Word of advice. You should lose the hood. People can see your face better that way. Unless you have a reason to keep it on. Just call me Laxus. Laxus Dreyar."

"D-Dreyar?" I question. "Does that mean you're…" I don't finish my question. There's just no way that someone as tall as him is related to the principal. It must be a coincidence.

"Yeah." Levy pipes in. "Laxus is Makarov's grandson. He is also the nephew of our homeroom teacher, Ms. Dreyar." Laxus just shrugs like it's no big deal.

"Come on. Let's all get lunch." Of course Natsu is the one to suggest this.

"Hey, Lucy," Gray begins when we're heading back to the table with our lunches. "Sorry about earlier. I really have no idea why that happens." Is he talking about the fighting, or the stripping? "It's just this weird habit I've had for years. I'm just glad my clothes were still somewhere nearby." Guess that answers that.

"It's okay, Gray," I respond, though I really just want to leave before they all decide that they hate me. Or anything bad happens to them because of me.

When we've all been seated, I notice two empty chairs; one is by Jellal and the other is between Elfman and Laxus. Does that mean they have even more friends on the way here? I don't think I can handle this.

About to stand up and excuse myself to the restroom, I'm interrupted by Natsu.. "Hey, guys. Where's Erza and Mira?" Mira sits here too? Who's this Erza person they keep mentioning?

"Listen up, you brats!" a voice shouted, causing everyone to quiet down and turn their eyes towards the stage at the front of the lunch room. Hey, I recognize that voice. "The student council president and vice president have some announcements to make." The principal then walked off the stage. Mirajane and another pretty girl take his place.

"Who's excited for the new year?" Mira's abundance of excitement can almost be seen flowing out over the entire student body. Most of them respond with affirmative hollering. "That's great to hear! Everyone, there will be several events going on this year that will make it even better than last year. I'm sure everyone will have a good time!" She's beaming with excitement. "Erza here will tell you more about it."

"Alright, then. First off, I expect you all to behave this year. If you don't, you will face proper punishment." She looks right at our table. Natsu and Gray visibly flinch under her dark glare. It said that they were already on her list. "In a few weeks, Fairy Tail will be hosting a school visitation week for all the other school in our league. That week will be filled with activities that each school will participate in and compete against each other." She seemed a little eager when she mentioned the competition part.

"Yes," Mira chimed in. "There will even be a special prize for the school that wins! So make sure it's us."

I zone out the rest of what their saying. That means there will be even more people here. There's already more than I can handle. What should I do?

I feel a poke in my side. I look at Natsu to see what he wants.

"Luce, aren't you going to eat anything?" He gestures to my plate still full of food. I've barely even touched it. I'm too nervous around these people to eat.

"I'm not that hungry. Here. You can have it." I can see that his plate is empty. He eagerly accepts the food I hand him.

"Hi again, Lucy," Mira cheerfully waves at me when they finally come over. "I see you've met everyone else here. You're free to join us for lunch anytime you want."

"Thanks for the offer," I force myself to respond. I don't bother with a smile since they won't even see it under my hood.

"So you're the Lucy Mira has told me about. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." The redhead from on the stage greets me. "I am Erza, president of the student council here at Fairy Tail. I trust that Natsu and Gray are behaving nicely."

They respond simultaneously, looking a little frightened at her tone.

"Aye, sir!" Natsu stammered out.

"Yes, ma'am!" was Gray's answer.

"That's good to hear, boys," Erza continues. "Because, if I see either of you two neglecting to make Lucy feel at home, you don't want to know what I'll do." Even I cringed at the dark aura that emanated from her.

With Erza sitting beside Jellal and Mira by Laxus, the rest of lunch seemed to fly by as we all talked. Or rather, as they talked and I wished I hadn't even agreed to go to school. They all seem like nice people. I just don't want to see any of them get hurt because of me. I don't want that to happen again. After all, my father never gave me a second warning about something. I was lucky to get a first.

When the bell signaled us to get to our next class, Erza walked up to me. "Hey, Lucy. I think you should know it's against school rules to cover your face with your hood. I'll let it slide this time, since it's your first day. You need to take it off before you get in trouble."

Oh no! What am I going to do? I can't let them see my face! They won't want to be near me if they see how ugly I am. I know! I'll go to the restroom and take my knife and…

"Actually, Erza," Mira began. "I don't see anywhere in the student handbook where it says you can't wear your hood up like that. So Lucy should be okay. It wasn't like that last year, though."

"Is that so?" Erza's tone said that she wasn't happy with being told she was wrong. "Oh, well. Forget what I said, Lucy. You can keep it up if you like."

Hearing my sigh of relief, Natsu whispers in my ear. "I don't know why you don't want them to see your face, Lucy. It's not like you look bad or anything."

Feeling my face heat up, I swiftly walk away to my next class.

 **Friday, September 12th**

The final bell of the day rings, dismissing us to go home. I rush to my locker to get my things. I hurry outside the school so Natsu isn't able to walk home with me. I need some by myself to think.

I can't believe I made it through my first week of school. And it wasn't even all that bad. I'm getting used to having all of them around. I'm still not sure if I can call them my friends, though. Not that they did anything wrong. I'm just afraid that they will disappear or leave me if I call them that. It wouldn't be the first time.

But my dad doesn't know where I am, so maybe it'll be okay.

They have even gotten me to talk a little more. My favorite place to go in the school is the library. It has so many books for me to read. And it's really quiet. Levy spends a lot of time there, too.

My classes aren't even that bad, either. I've already gone over most of the material from when I was home-schooled. I guess that's one good thing that has happened to me. Although, it was more lonely than real school. I found out that there is at least one of my ten new 'friends' in each of my classes. Some of my classes even have two or more of my friends in them.

I wonder what my homeroom teacher looks like. Between Laxus and the principal, she could look like anything. I hope she's nice, unlike Ms. Aquarius. I don't know why, but most of the teachers here insist that you call them by their first name. I go with it just because it puts me at ease to know I don't have to act so formal anymore. My dad didn't like it when I forgot about the formalities.

I don't know why, but I just feel at home at Fairy Tail. It's like I finally belong somewhere. Not one single person has said anything bad about me. At least, not to my face. All my friends make sure of that. The ones that are the most protective of me are Natsu and Laxus, though I have no idea why. With all of them around me and supporting me, I haven't even felt the need to cut myself this past week.

Seeing my house down the street, I smile as I think about all that's happened this week. I should probably tell Virgo so she stops worrying so much about me.

 **Virgo's POV**

"Hello?" I answer my cellphone. The caller ID was unfamiliar to me. "Virgo speaking. Who is this?"

"Virgo? Is that really you?" an easily recognizable voice responds. "I can't believe you finally came back!" She sounded much relieved.

I laugh as I think back to before I left Magnolia. "Yes, it has been a long time, hasn't it, Aquarius?"

"At least seventeen years, I think. So, what's up with that brat of yours? I don't remember you telling me you got pregnant," she scolded.

"Well… It was more of an adoption, actually. But how do you even know Lucy? She hasn't been out that much, other than for school."

"And that's exactly where I met her. I coach the school's swim team, bunch of lazy brats." Her irritation at them was clear to me. "Anyway, for this week I have been a substitute for her homeroom teacher. With her last name, I could hardly believe that she belonged to you."

"Yes, Lucy told me she hasn't met her real teacher, yet. How is she doing, by the way?" I ask, before adding, "I've been a little worried about her. This is her first year at a public school. Is she too much trouble?"  
"Ugh! Don't even get me started. _All_ the students are trouble. But she seems to be making friends. She's really quiet and sits in the back. And she wears her hood up all day. It's no wonder why she doesn't have a boyfriend." I could see the smug look on her face from here.

A thought pops into my head. "Hey, Aquarius. We should get together sometime to catch up. I have a lot to tell you."

"Okay. I'm busy this weekend, so why don't you show up at the school on Monday morning? I no longer have to substitute, I'll be free then," she suggests.

I readily agree. "I will only be able to stay for a little while, though. My new job won't be able to wait all day." Despite what I had initially thought, it's been taking me longer than I had anticipated to get Fairy Hills cleaned up.

"Are you still cleaning up after other people? Come on, Virgo. Don't you ever get tired of it?"

"Not really. I love my new job. I don't get punished as much, though." I say with just a hint of regret. "Although, I never knew the students living at Fairy Hills could be so messy."

"Well, I gotta go now. Got a date with my _boyfriend_. It was nice talking to you, bye." With that, she hung up.

Going back to preparing dinner, I hear the front door open. Lucy soon strolled into the kitchen with a smile on her face. I noticed she already had her hood down; that's a good sign.

"Welcome home, Princess. You look happy. How was your first week of school?" Thinking about what Aquarius told me, I hope Lucy tells me it's true.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Most of the students and teachers seem nice and like they genuinely care. Except for the substitute teacher I have. She acts like she was stung by a scorpion or something," Lucy explains.

Again, I find myself laughing. "That's Aquarius for you. She's always been like that."

"You know her?" the surprise in her voice amused me.

"Yes. I spoke with her on the phone just before you got home. We are just a couple of friends who went to school together. Actually, she was probably the closest friend your mother had back in high school." Upon seeing the sadness in her eyes, I decide to change the topic. "So, Lucy. Have you made any friends, yet?"  
Her face brightens up again. "I think so. Ten of them, maybe? This one girl, Levy, is in almost all of my classes. During lunch, she introduced me to her other friends. They are all pretty weird, but interesting. I'm never alone with them. And there's never a dull moment."  
"That's good, Princess." I smirk as I form an plan. "What about that boy with pink hair?"

"Natsu? Yeah, I guess he's my friend, too."

"But is he your _boyfriend_?" I emphasize the word, knowing what her reaction will be.

Sure enough, Lucy's face turns a bright shade of pink. "V-Virgo! He isn't, I swear! Why would you think that? H-he's just a f-friend!" She stammers in embarrassment.

"That's too bad. He seems like a nice boy. Make sure you tell me when you two become closer, Princess." I immediately focus my attention back on my cooking. I easily feel her glare of embarrassment and mock anger on my back. I smile at my accomplishment.

"Virgo, don't forget," she begins sweetly, too sweetly. I turn my head to look at her in suspicion. "You have to make more cookies for me."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This is the longest it's been in between updates for me. Sorry if I made you wait. This chapter is my longest one yet at 4700 words!**

 **I decided I should make an outline that'll help me stay on track with this story and make sure I write all that I want for each chapter. Hopefully, it won't take as long to update from now on.**

 **I'd just like to thank everyone for reading this story and for all the reviews, favorites, and follows this story has. I hope this chapter was worth the wait!**

 **Don't be afraid to tell me what you guys think of it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: A First Time for Everything**

 **Natsu POV**

 _My memory is a little fuzzy. I don't remember much; I was so little. Four years of being alive does that to a person, I suppose. Yet, I can never forget this day. It was a joyous one, at first. Up until things got ugly._

 _My birthday was in just a few days. I'm almost four years old. Dad had taken me to the store to get me a toy that I really wanted. It was a dragon, a red one. Despite it being the middle of summer, it was kinda chilly out today, so I was wearing a scarf. My mother told me I could use hers. We were now driving back home to see what dinner Mom had cooked for us._

 _Slowly approaching our neighborhood, a strange smell fills the air, causing my dad to look up into the sky._

" _Hey," he says to no one in particular, since I can barely talk yet. "Where's that smoke coming from?" Then a fire truck rushes past us. My dad speeds up when he sees where it's heading. "Please let them be safe."_

 _Making the final turn, my eyes widen in awe. I had never seen a fire so large before. I didn't fully comprehend the situation just yet. But Dad just seemed to get more anxious than ever. It was our house on fire. We reached it as the firefighters entered the house to look for anyone._

" _Sir, you have to stay back," one of them said when Dad tried to run into our home._

" _No! I have to make sure they're safe! Where are they?" he shouted at the man holding him back, looking around to search for them._

" _Sorry, sir. No one has come out, yet. They must still be in there. How many people were inside? We'll let you know when we get them out." The firefighter didn't seem too confident about his claim, however._

 _It was several more hours as we waited for them to control the flames. Being so near the heat made both of us sweat, but I left my scarf on anyway. When they finally had it under control, there wasn't much left of the house. We saw them come out holding a limp body. Only one. They said they couldn't find any others. Both of us cried when she wasn't able to answer us._

 _Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man standing at the end of the street. Turning out of curiosity, I saw that a cloak covered his body. When he noticed me looking, he merely gave me an evil smile. The breeze blew his cloak around, and I caught a glimpse of light blue tattoos all over his body…_

 **~September 13th, Saturday Morning~**

The smell of breakfast cooking wafts its way into my nose. I decide to wake up at once. Getting up from bed, a loud yawn escapes me. Without bothering to put a shirt on, I head downstairs. I wonder what uncle has cooked up today. I hope it's good, this time. He isn't very good at cooking. That's why I usually just have cereal or toast.

"Morning, Natsu," he greets me. "I hope your first week of school went well." He didn't get to ask after school yesterday because he works really late into the night.

"Yup! It was pretty great!" a large grin finds its way onto my face. "I finally met her on Monday, Uncle." He knows who I'm talking about. I told him about wanting to meet Lucy the day she moved in.

"So she does go to Fairy Tail. What's her name? You should introduce me sometime."

"Her name's Lucy. But I don't think meeting her would be a good idea just yet." My smile fades away slightly.

"And why is that? Are you embarrassed about me?"He says with mock indignation.

"It just seems that she doesn't want to be around too many people right now. She's really shy. Even our little group of friends is too much for her at times." I take another bite out of the food he made. It's actually quite edible this time. "And yes, I'm sure you would find a way to embarrass me around her."

Hearing my phone ringing up in my room, I quickly scarf down the rest of my breakfast. "See you later, old man!" I make a run for the stairs, easily dodging what he throws at me.

"Take care of your plate when you come back down!" he yells. "I don't want to find the house a mess when I get home from work again!"

Scoffing at this, I answer my phone. "Hello? Who's there?" I forgot to check the caller I.D.

"Hey, retard, it's me." My brain starts to hurt as I listen to his voice.

"What do you want, you stripper?" A slight snarl escapes me as I speak.

"We're all going to the movies today, remember? Like we do every year." Oh no, I knew I forgot something. "Anyways," he continues. "We all forgot to invite Lucy. And none of us know how to contact her. Will you be able to tell her?"

"Of course I can! I can do anything. Who do you think I am?" I hear a scoff from him right after my declaration. "When do we meet?"

"In two hours. Tell her to meet us at the movie theater in town. Don't screw it up, ya pyro." He hangs up before I can return the insult. He really gives me a headache.

I go downstairs to head over to Lucy's before coming to a sudden stop at the front door. I look down at my attire in amazement. "How could I forget to get dressed? I almost went right outside, too," I mumble on my way back to my room.

Once I've changed into my normal clothes, I go back down. "Sheesh! That old man needs to learn how to clean up after himself," I mutter at the plate on the table. I stride to the door in good humor.

Making it to Lucy's front door in seconds, I don't hesitate to knock loudly. Without even stopping until the door opens for me. Maybe I should have taken the window...

 **Lucy POV**

 ***** Tap tap tap.* "Ugh! Virgo, just five more minutes, please!" I groan at the soft tapping on my bedroom door. Normally I would have been out of bed a while ago, but last night was different than usual. I didn't have any of the usual nightmares that haunt my slumber. In fact, last night was one of the best I've had my whole life. For once, I'm a little reluctant to get up.

"Princess, you need to get up," she calls through the closed door. "One of your friends is here to see you."

Damn it! How did they find me? If Natsu told them where I live, I swear, he'll pay. Yet, I still find myself getting up and eagerly readying myself to find out who it is. Maybe it's Levy with that book she said she would lend to me. I guess I'll just have to see.

When I don't find Virgo in her room, I make my way downstairs. "Hey, Virgo?" I call out. "Who was at the door? Where can I find…." my voice trails off when my eyes land on a pink head sitting on my couch.

"Hey, Luce!" his grin is as wide and goofy as ever. "Did you just wake up? Your hair is sticking up everywhere."

Widening my eyes, I realize the import of his words. If he says my hair is up, that means he can see it. Which means I forgot to put on my hoodie. Which also means that he can see every mark on my face. And he can see just how ugly I am. Up close.

Without a word, I bolt back up to my room, locking the door behind me. I bury myself on my bed to think. He didn't mention anything other than my hair, so maybe he wasn't able to get a good look at my face? Surely he would have commented on it if he had. My face wasn't actually too bad, not like the rest of my body, but there were still a few bruises and cuts from what my father did. He was nice that way, I guess. He did less to my face than he did to the rest of me.

Once again getting up, I put my pink hoodie on. Natsu may have left after I ran away from him, but I don't want to take any chances in case he is still down there waiting. I suppose that it's a good thing it was Natsu rather than one of my other friends. Natsu has already seen me before, when I first moved in. None of the others have any clue what I look like, yet. With this in mind, I attempt to brace myself for whatever it is Natsu wants.

However, getting back downstairs reveals Natsu to be missing from where I left him. Oh well. It's probably better this way. What he had to say must've not been that important. I'll just forget about him for now and see what Virgo is making for break… fast.

I stop in my tracks at the sight in front of me. There Virgo is, with the meal already on the table. And across from her is none other than Natsu. Happily eating most of the food that Virgo made. And making a huge mess while he's at it.

"Good morning, Princess," Virgo greets when she notices me standing behind Natsu. "Breakfast is ready. You should come get some while it lasts." She said the last bit with a sidelong glance at Natsu. "I took the liberty of inviting your friend here to have breakfast with us. If that's a problem, then please punish me, Princess."

I hasten to assure her. "No, it's fine Virgo, really. By the way he's eating it, I'd say he hasn't had anything since lunch yesterday. I just wasn't expecting him to be here." I take my own seat at the table.

A loud burp eventually resounds throughout the room. "Ah, that was great! Much better than what my uncle made. I was so hungry! You're a great cook. Thanks for the meal!" And with that, he promptly bows down to the both of us. Much like he did when he thought I was an actual princess.

Being as how Virgo and I are both hardly even done with half of our meal, we regard the pink-haired boy with wonder. I never really paid any attention to his eating habits at school; I sort of just kept to myself, except when someone spoke to me first.

"Well, I better get going. See you at school, Lucy," Natsu says as he gets up from the table.

"Wait!" I reach out for his arm without thinking. "Why did you even come over here in the first place? Did you need something?"

"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot." Actually, Natsu, you did forget. "As tradition, me and the gang are going to go see a movie in a little while. We were wondering if you wanted to join us."

Bewilderment spreads across my face. Why would they want to hang out with me outside of school? Aren't I enough of a burden on them? "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Natsu."  
"Why not? We want you to be with us, Luce. We enjoy your company." I feel a small blush creep its way onto my face. "And, you are one of us. Our friend. And friends do things like this together. It wouldn't be right if you weren't there."  
"I was going to do my homework," I make up an excuse, even though I've already finished it. "I guess I can put it off, though. If it's alright with Virgo if I go, that is."  
"It's fine with me, Princess," she answers simply while cleaning up the table.

"Woohoo!" Natsu reaches for my hand. "Let's go now! We don't want to be late."

"Wait!" I repeat as he pulls me out the door. "I don't have any shoes on, yet! Just wait here for me."

When I come downstairs yet again, Virgo comes up to me with a small, thin, pink box-thing in her hand. "Here, take this, Lucy. You can keep it; I got it for you since I knew you would need it someday." She hands me what must be a cellphone. "I know your father never let you have one before, but I'm sure you can figure out how it works in no time. I already put my number in, so just call me if you need to be picked up." Then she gives me a hug. "Don't stay out too late with your new friends, Princess. Good luck!"

Waving to her as I leave the house, I run into Natsu's chest. That's twice now! Why was he waiting right there? I sigh. "What are you waiting for? I thought we had to go."

"Um." He scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "I just remembered that we still have an hour and a half before we're supposed to meet up with them. And it only takes like ten or twenty minutes to walk to the movie theater."

"How could you forget that?" I ask. He merely shrugs in response. "Well, what do we do until then?" *Meow* I look down to see Happy rubbing against my leg, so I pick him up. "Do you just let your cat wander around outside all day?"

"Kinda. He always tells me when he wants to go back in, though. Which is usually either to sleep for the night or to get some food," Natsu responds.

"Isn't that dangerous? What if someone tries to take him? What would you do then?"  
"As a matter of fact, Happy generally stays away from strangers. Its weird that he likes you already. But if someone did somehow end up taking him, I would just find him again. No problem." He acts like it's the simplest thing in the world.

For the rest of the time, we make light conversations with one another. Before we know it, it's time for us to head out. It takes us a mere 15 minutes to reach the theater, like he predicted. However, we managed to do that by him pulling me along as he ran, rather than by 'walking'. We slowed down as it came into our view.

Already, most of our friends are there. The only one not there yet is Laxus. Mira explains to us that Principal Makarov wanted to talk to him about something. She also said that he will be joining us a little later, probably near the end of the movie.

"Now that you mention it," Cana began. "What movie are we going to watch?"

We all stand there thinking for a while. Gray breaks the silence. "Why don't we let Lucy decide since it's her first time with us?"

"That's a good idea," almost everyone replied.

"I wouldn't know what movie to pick," I object.

"That's okay," Lisanna gives me a smile. "It doesn't really matter what the movie is. You can just pick whichever one seems interesting to you."

I take a moment to consider what options we have for today. Unable to make a decision, I choose one at random. "How about this one?"

"Cool!" Natsu immediately shouts. "I love dragons! You couldn't have chosen a better movie, Lucy!"

"Just because it has dragons doesn't mean it's the best movie ever, Flame Brain," Gray scoffs.

"Oh yeah, Twinkle Toes?" Natsu returns with a raised fist. "And what movie would you want us to watch? Probably this _Frozen_ movie, right?" Natsu's laughing only irritates Gray further.

"Calm down, you two," Erza commands, putting a stop to their fight by smashing their heads together. "Lucy chose the movie, so let's just get the tickets and find our seats."

After we obtain enough tickets, Levy walks up to me and nudges my shoulder. "So, Lucy. How was Natsu able to find you so quickly?" Her eyebrows wiggle at me as I blush under my hood. "None of the rest of us knew how to contact you."

"Yeah!" Mira was a little too eager if you ask me. "You two also came here together. Did Natsu walk you here all the way from your house?"

"U-um… Yes?" My hesitation to answer is evident to all of them.

"Yeah," Natsu adds in innocently. "Her mom made us a great breakfast!"

"You had breakfast at her house?" Now it was Jellal's turn to sound incredulous.

"Natsu, when I told you to invite her along, I didn't mean for you to stalk her." Gray jokes.

"Eating breakfast with a girl is manly!" Elfman's deep voice rumbles.

"I-it's not what you guys think!" My exasperation at the misunderstanding is almost too much to handle. "He's my neighbor. He just showed up at my house this morning and started eating the breakfast my mom made. He almost completely forgot that he was supposed to ask me to come along, too."  
By now, we've found our seats in the theater and are waiting for the movie to get started.

"You two are neighbors?" Erza asks from her seat beside Jellal. "That means we can easily find out where you live, Lucy." I gulp at the tone in her voice.

"Hey, Natsu," Lisanna begins. "If you're Lucy's neighbor, then have you ever seen her without that hood up? She won't let anyone else see how pretty she is."

Did she just call me pretty? I'm positive she wouldn't think that if I let her see me. None of them would. But Natsu, for some reason, just doesn't seem to care that I'm ugly. Maybe that's what I like about him.

"Actually, I saw what she looks like under her disguise twice!" Natsu beams with pride. "When she first moved in last month and just earlier this morning."

"Then tell us what she looks like!" Levy burst out with excitement. Then, as an afterthought, she adds, "That is, if you don't mind, Lucy."

"It's no problem," I force myself to say. After all, Natsu's memory isn't the best around. It's quite possible he doesn't even remember.

My hopes are dashed, however. "Well, first off, she has blonde hair, even though her mom has pink hair." Natsu considers for a few seconds before continuing. "It's strange. She looks familiar to me. It's almost like I've seen her before. I just can't remember from where." He scratches the top of his head in thought.

"Like you've seen her before?" Mira confirms. At his nod, her enthusiasm only increases. "Then maybe it is love at first sight!"

Both Natsu and I are stunned by this suggestion. I see a blush on his face as I feel the heat rise on my own. "What?" we both finally manage to gasp out in surprise.

"Shh!" several people around us say because the movie is starting. The title soon pops up on the screen, letting me know what movie I had picked without even looking; _How to Train Your Dragon_ must be it. That's when I realize just how new all of this is to me. Having people I can call my friends, hanging out with them, getting my very own cell phone, and even watching a movie. I wonder what will happen next.

"I love this movie," Natsu mutters next to me. "All the different types of dragons, especially. Why did you end up choosing this movie, Lucy?"

"I don't know. I just chose one. I've never seen it before," I reveal with a weak smile.

"That's too bad, though I'm sure you'll love it! What's your favorite movie, then?" His eager smile didn't make what I had to say any easier.

"Actually, Natsu. This will be the first movie I've ever seen." His jaw drops in astonishment.

"What do you mean?" His shout produces several shushes from the people around us again. "Why haven't you ever watched one before? You must've had a boring childhood." His voice is back to a whisper at this point.

His words cause my chest to ache. "Well, my dad never really let me watch any movies. He was really strict." My explanation only seems to confound him even more.

After several more minutes of watching the movie, Natsu inquires, "What do you mean by he 'was' strict? I didn't see him at your house. Did something happen to him?"

"Something like that," I mumble quietly. "I don't want to talk about it."

"It's okay, Lucy. I understand." A thoughtful look replaces his usual carefree visage. Did something happen to him, too? I wonder.

The rest of the movie seems to fly by. The popcorn and drinks that we had the boys get for us don't last us long enough. Before the end, around the time they defeated the giant alpha dragon, Laxus arrived. He, too, had a thoughtful expression, and I swear he looked over at me several different times before the movie was over. If I didn't know better, I'd say he could see my face and hear my very thoughts. But with my hood up and considering how dark it is, I'm sure it's just my imagination.

We hang out for a bit after the movie, but it isn't long before I decide to go home. Too much excitement in one day wouldn't be good. I decline Natsu's offer to walk me home, being able to tell that he still wants to hang out with them. Waving goodbye to all of them, I turn to go. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Laxus watching me with a bit more curiosity than usual. Not that I would not what is usual.

 **Laxus POV, Earlier in the Day**

"What is it, old geezer?" I ask him inside his office at school. I have my own questions to ask him after he's done with what he has to say.

"Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?" Makarov gets right to the point. Thankfully, that's just what I wanted to talk to him about.

"Not really. She's just really shy and doesn't show anyone her face. No one's even tried to bully her or anything, if that's what you were worried about. She hasn't told us much about her past or where she came from." I lean against the wall with my arms folded across my chest.

"So she hasn't mentioned anything about her parents? Or why she keeps to herself?"

"Like I said. Nothing. Why did you even ask me to look after her this week? Is there something I should know?" It was early on Monday when the geezer came to me with this strange request. He never asked me to watch over any other new kid we got here.

Gramps lets out a sigh. "I just had some suspicions about her. That's all. I wanted to see if there was any truth or justification to them."

"What suspicions are you talking about? I could've looked for any hints of them better if you had told me before." The impatience in my voice doesn't affect him.

"We will just have to find out on Monday, then. I'm sure it will all become clear then, if I am correct." He then proceeds to further explain to me what he has been thinking ever since he met Lucy.

 **~September 14th~**

 **Lucy POV**

I yawn as I get up from bed the next day. I went to bed later than usual because I couldn't stop thinking about what happened yesterday. Especially about how worried both Natsu and Laxus seemed. Natsu apparently felt sorry for what I told him, but I still have no clue why the blond was acting so strange. It creeps me out a little.

After eating breakfast with Virgo, she proposes an idea she had. It doesn't take me too long to think about it and decline.

"Come on, Lucy," Virgo almost begs yet again. "You should invite all of them over. It'll be good to spend more time together. You always seem happier after being with your friends, Princess."

"I just don't think it would be a good thing right now." My gaze landed on my empty plate before I continued. "I'm not ready for something like that, yet. Maybe some other time."

"Then how about we make a trip to the mall for today? I've been meaning to buy some new things. Would you like to go?" She tilts her head to the side.

I think about this for a moment. "Why not? It would give us a chance to buy some of that makeup you were talking about."

She claps in eager anticipation. "Then it's settled! Be ready to go in ten minutes, Princess."

Once at the mall, it doesn't take Virgo long to gather the things she needs. We actually spend more time exploring and viewing that sights in front of us than we do shopping. We even managed to find some of that makeup, which I should be able to use to cover up some of my scars and bruises. Mostly the ones on my face; there won't be enough for my arms and legs, let alone the rest of me. I don't plan on using it tomorrow, though. Maybe I'll try it out next week. If I feel comfortable enough around everyone at school.

We enter one shop that sells clothing. A lot of it looks like it was made with wool. Picking out a cute sweater, I walk up to the cashier.

"Hey, aren't you Lucy? The new girl at school?" she speaks timidly. It's then that I recognize her.

"Yeah. Aren't you in my science class?" She nods in answer to my question. "Your name is Aries, right? It's nice to meet you."

"I'm sorry." I have no idea why she is apologizing. "I would've talked to you in class. You just looked like you would rather be left alone at the time."

I have only one friend in that class, which is Jellal. But since he is a junior, he is the teacher's aide for that period. So he's pretty busy grading papers and doing other things for the teacher during class. That doesn't leave much time to talk to him. Not that I mind.

"Hey, Princess. How does this look? "Virgo asks while coming up to me holding a jacket. "Do you two know each other?" She quickly realized that we were talking not that long ago.

Suddenly, Aries gasps. "I've seen you before!" She points at Virgo. "In my mom's old family must be her sister!"

"Then that would make you my niece, Aries." Virgo doesn't even act surprised by this revelation.

"Yes, Ma'am. Aries Fleece. Mom told me you had returned to Magnolia. It's so nice to meet you. She also said you had a daughter going to school, but I never would have guessed it was Lucy!"

"Does this make us cousins?" I say with incredulity. I've never had a cousin before, I'm so excited. Even if we aren't actually related to one another.

"Well, I certainly hope so!" Aries sounds just as excited as I do. "Mom told me you were adopted, but that doesn't matter. Lucy, I hope we'll become great friends!"

"Me too!" I nod eagerly. It isn't even my second week into school and so much has happened to me. I have made so many friends and I got to meet another member of my 'adoptive' family. I can't wait to see what the rest of the school year has to offer. I'm sure there will be many more surprises to come.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sometimes I feel that I am taking this story too slowly. I mean, the past few chapters have only covered a week. Oh well, it has to happen this way.**

 **I know I'm not the best writer, but I do what I can to improve. The positive reviews I have gotten really motivate me, so thank you!**

 **I appreciate how I am able to show some important moments from each character's past. I feel that it helps to build the story. But maybe it's just me.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Thanks for all the support, everyone!**

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 **Chapter 6: Who Are You?**

 **Virgo POV**

 _There, it's finally clean. I've never done so much work in such a short amount of time. I'll never become accustomed to how large this place is. Both of them deserve to come home to a clean house. Especially today. I do hope everything is going fine with the delivery._

 _I have known her for many years, I don't even know how long. I am glad she's so happy. She always wanted to have a family of her own. And after today, she will have her own baby to take care of. Of course I'll help her, but she doesn't need it. I just know that she will make a great mother. Hopefully, this whole experience will make him lighten up a bit, too. He can be so serious and focused on his work sometimes. But he does seem to genuinely care about her._

 _It has already been several hours since her water broke and they left for the hospital. If there weren't any complications with the birth, then they should be home soon. Perhaps I should prepare dinner. Ah, I think that was the front door opening. I'll just finish putting these supplies away, then I'll go welcome them home._

 _Easily putting a large smile on, I walk into the grand hall to meet the newly-made parents. However, something appears to be wrong. "Excuse me, sir. Where is the Mistress? I'm glad you two made it back safely."  
His eyes tell me he was crying not that long ago. He looked so upset, it wasn't hard to imagine what may have been the cause. When he finally spoke, it was with ragged breaths. "She… She's gone."_

 _My hand covers my mouth in surprise. "What do you mean? She couldn't have…" I am unable to finish my sentence, tears already threatening to fall from my eyes._

" _Yes, she is dead. And she isn't coming back!" His shout held just a hint of regret in it. "She died, giving birth. This is all that's left from her." He gestures to the small bundle in his arms._

 _I can no longer hold back the tears. I fall to my knees and grieve for my lost friend. "Why? Why did she have to leave so soon? Layla didn't deserve this. I am so sorry, Mr. Heartfilia." I can't believe it. She was supposed to be here to raise her child. And now the babe has to grow up without a mother. I can't imagine a more horrible fate for one so young._

" _Here," he hands the bundle to me. "You take care of it." His voice holds no emotion. It doesn't exist in his eyes, either. It's as if he has no clue what it is. "I can't do it. I have to get back to work."_

" _I… I will, sir." I look down at the baby to see it smiling, despite the sadness in its eyes. "What's the name?" I ask before he manages to walk away._

" _Lucy." He says without turning around. Still no emotion, I can't help but wonder why. "Layla wanted to name her Lucy."_

* * *

 **~September 15th, Monday~**

"Lucy," I manage to catch her before she gets out the door. "Why don't I drive you to school today? I'm meeting up with an old friend there. Aquarius and I have a lot to catch up on."

"No, it's fine. Thanks for the offer, though. I already agreed to let Natsu walk with me to school today." I know I'm not imagining the cheerfulness in her tone. Her eyes shine more than I've seen them in a long time. Maybe more than ever before.

"Okay, if you insist, Princess. Just make sure you get to school on time. You were late last Monday even though I drove you there, remember?" I still don't know how she managed to do that.

She laughs before saying, "Yeah, that was Natsu's fault. Well, I guess it was a little bit of my fault, too. But Natsu is the one that stopped me. If it weren't for him, I would have had plenty of time to spare."

"That doesn't help your case, Princess." I return the laugh. "Walking to school with Natsu after he made you late last time. Yeah, that's a good idea," I say with obvious sarcasm. I try just one more time. "I could drive both of you there. If it isn't a problem."

"It's fine," she waves it off. "I don't know why, but Natsu insists that we walk. That's why I told him we were leaving earlier than usual. We won't be later today!" She declares in a challenging mood.

We both walk out the door. While I get into the car, she makes her way to Natsu's house. I wave goodbye to her. "Have fun today, Princess! See you when you get home."

Because there isn't any hurry for me to get to Fairy Tail High, I take my time and drive slower than I did last Monday. I have always enjoyed going through the city on my way to school. There is so much to see; some sights change every day. It can be so relaxing.

Arriving at the school, I get out of my car to search for my friend. It isn't long until I spot a head of aqua blue hair. Her hair is just as long as I remember from the day I left. Not much has changed with the school, either. Though it has grown considerably in size.

"Hello, Aquarius!" I greet with as much enthusiasm as I can muster. "It's been so long since I've been here. Not counting last Monday," I add as an afterthought. "I have to admit I was afraid it would change."

"Don't worry, Virgo," she begins after turning to me. "The students are all brats, just like they were back then. It's good to see you again."

"You know, you just called the two of us brats, as well."

"Well, we were, weren't we?" she says with a smirk. We smile at the memories we made here. "At least, that's what Makarov always tells me."

"You still keep in touch with our old teacher?" It isn't actually that surprising. I would have, too. If it weren't for what happened after I moved away with Layla.

"I kinda have to." Just a smidge of disappointment enters her voice. "He is the principal now, after all. It's not like I could avoid him."

"Oh, Lucy didn't tell me who the principal was." I wonder if Lucy knows.

"Come on, Virgo. You should talk to him, as well." We start for the office. She resumes speaking on the way. "I assume you heard about what happened to Layla." Sadness comes over the both of us. I knew we would end up talking about this eventually..

"Yeah. It's a shame, really. No one, especially her, deserves something like that to happen to them." It feels good to be able to talk about her with someone else that was a close friend to her. Mr. Heartfilia never even allowed her name to be spoken at the mansion. It's good that I finally managed to get Lucy out of there.

We walk in silence the rest of the way. Getting to the main office of the school, I see a girl with white hair. She waves in greeting to Aquarius. She seems like a lovely young lady. This girl must be the exception to Aquarius' 'all brats' rule.

"Nice to see you here, Ms. Aquarius!" The girl notices me with excitement. "And who is your friend? I haven't seen her around here before."

"Hello, Mira. This is my friend, Virgo. We went to school together when we were younger," Aquarius introduces me. "Also, she happens to be Lucy's mother. I know you are one of her new friends."

"Oh!" Mira exclaims. "Lucy's told us so much about you. It's nice to finally meet you! And I think Natsu would like me to thank you again for the breakfast he ate the other day. I apologize for his behavior."

"Nice to meet you, too," I return the compliment. "Lucy hasn't said much to me about her friends, but I can tell she really likes all of you." Then I remember what a mess that pink-haired boy left on the table. "Don't worry about Natsu. I can handle him. The next time he comes over to eat one of my meals, I'll make sure to not let him go until he gets the whole house as spotless as it was when he arrived."

Aquarius turns the conversation elsewhere. "Mira, is Principal Makarov in his office right now?"

"Yes, he's been expecting you two." Mira points at the door behind her. "Go right in. Laxus is also in there at the moment. I don't know why, but it seems like you guys have a lot to talk about."

Laxus? Makarov's grandson is here, too? I haven't seen him since he was a baby. Maybe two years old. It was sometime before I left with Layla and Jude.

Taking a deep breath, I follow Aquarius into the small office. The familiar old man behind his desk speaks cheerfully, "How good to see you again, Virgo. It has been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yes, about seventeen years, I believe," I respond without having to think about it. "The day I left with the Heartfilia family was a happy one. I just wish it had stayed that way."

His tone becomes serious. "I'm sure we all had hoped for that, as well."

"Aquarius said you wanted to speak to me about something. Is it about Lucy?" I attempt to get all of my concern out of the way as soon as possible.

"Yes, well, we are waiting for one more person to show up first. We will discuss it at that time." Who could Makarov be referring to?

"Very well," I curb my anxiety as best as I can.

"You remember my grandson, Laxus?" Makarov changes the topic and gestures to the young blond man leaning against the corner of his desk. "He turned 19 this year, but I'll let him tell you more about himself. I'm sure he doesn't remember much about you, though."

Hearing only a grunt as Laxus' response, I take that as my cue to start the conversation. "Wow, you've grown up so much. The last time I saw you, Laxus, you were literally only this tall." I hold my hand just a foot or two above the ground. "I didn't think you would grow up to be so strong and handsome. You must attract all the young ladies." This elicits the response I was wanting, seeing him blush in embarrassment.

"Well, um, I guess…You could say that." He lets out an awkward cough, clearly not accustomed to such attention. "I don't really know."

"Oh?" I evince fake shock. "And what about that lovely lady outside the office? She seemed interesting enough…"

"E-excuse me?" Sounds like I hit a nerve in him. This is almost as fun as teasing Lucy.

"How's your father, by the way?" I show Laxus some mercy. "I hope Ivan has managed to stay out of trouble." I recall all the times that he barely escaped getting caught with all the pranks he pulled in high school.

"He's doing alright, I guess." It is quite evident how relieved he is at the new path our talk has taken. "He became the principal of some other school, so I don't see him that often." It doesn't sound like he misses his father all that much.

"Your father was such a brat in high school, Laxus," Aquarius joins the conversation. "I'll never know how he ended up with someone like your mother."

This time, Laxus laughs. "That's exactly what Gramps told me. I've heard so many stories of what Dad did in his heyday."

"He was a most troublesome brat, that's for sure," Makarov concedes. "Consider yourself lucky, Laxus. You could have ended up just like him. As it is, you have caused your own fair share of disturbances."

"We'll be glad to be rid of you," the bluenette sighs. "If only we could get rid of that Natsu, as well. I fear that he may be here for a lot longer than any of us suspect."

We all get pulled out of our reminiscence when there is a soft knocking at the door. Makarov is the one to answer. "Come on in, we've been expecting you."

"Father, why did you call me here? Is there something you need?" a sweet, gentle voice inquires.

Thinking my ears had deceived me, as they surely must have, I look at the person that had now walked into the room. I can't believe what my eyes are telling me. I am left utterly speechless as my eyes widen. What is the meaning of this?

"Virgo! It's been forever! I can't tell you how sorry I am for leaving you," she says while running up to hug me.

* * *

 **Lucy POV**

Knocking on his door for the seventh time since Virgo drove away, I wish that I had listened and got in the car. "Natsu!" I shout, not even caring at this point that the whole neighborhood can probably hear me. "Get your butt out here! We're going to be late again because of you!"

"Hey, Luce! What are you doing up so early?" Natsu's pink head pops out from an open window on the second floor. "You just woke me up," he whines.

"Good!" I proclaim. "School starts in about 25 minutes. And it takes 30 minutes to walk there! Get down here now, or I'm leaving without you!"

"Jeez," I hear him mumble as he leaves the window. "No need to get grumpy."

I massage the headache out of my temples. "I am not grumpy! I've been waiting for you for more than fifteen minutes. I should have just left you behind by now, so you better be glad I stayed to wake you up!"

Hearing the door open, I can't believe that he's already prepared for school. That's when I see that it isn't even him. It's some older guy, with reddish-orange hair. I think that I've seen him leaving this house before.

"Hello, you must be the Lucy that Natsu has told me so much about." He holds out his hand to me. "I am Natsu's Uncle, Atlas. Nice to meet you."

Wait a second, Natsu told him 'so much' about me? And he still thinks it's nice to meet me? What is wrong with the people in this town? "Uh, nice to meet you, too." I carefully shake his proffered hand. "Natsu hasn't really told me much about you, though. How long have you been taking care of him?"

"Oh, well…" He takes a pause to consider it. "He's been living with me for twelve years, I think. But his dad only disappeared around six years ago, so that would be how long I've had to endure it."

I can't help but giggle at that. "Yeah, I'm sure Natsu is a handful. I feel a little sorry for you."

"It isn't too bad. I mean, he has school most of the time, and I work a lot. I don't have to deal with him that much." He looks over his shoulder to see Natsu coming down the stairs. "Well, I gotta go to work now. See you some other time, Lucy." I wave to him just as Natsu reaches the door with his backpack.

"Don't mind the old man, Luce." He grins as he puts his hands behind his head. "He might not be able to cook, but he isn't that bad. Well, maybe a little."

"Natsu, listen to me!" I can't contain my impatience any longer. "We are going to be late! We have to hurry."

"Well, why didn't you say so?" He tugs on my hand and starts to run. "If you had gotten here sooner, we wouldn't need to take any of these shortcuts I know about."

Indeed, we must have taken some along the way. Because before I know it, I am out of breath and standing right outside the school gates. And it only took us about ten minutes! We still have five more minutes before classes start.

A strange noise stops us from entering the school. I slowly turn my head at Natsu. He grins back sheepishly while rubbing his stomach.

"What did you expect? You didn't give me enough time to eat any breakfast! I'm starving!" Although he claims that all the time, I have to admit that he does look hungrier than usual. It serves him right!

"If you had gotten up when you said you would, you could have eaten some breakfast," I scoff. "Let's just get to class."

Soon enough, we are on the second floor.

"See ya later, Luce!" He walks past my classroom and enters one down the hall. Having finally recovered from the run, I take a big gulp and push open the door. Seeing the familiar head of blue hair jump up, I walk over to my desk next to Levy.

"Lu-chan! I thought you weren't going to make it!" She embraces me in a hug. "Don't tell me it was him again," She scowls.

"Yeah! Natsu took forever to wake up today! I can't believe it. And he was the one that insisted on walking! We had to run here just so we wouldn't be late." The bell rings right after I finish my little rant.

"We tried to warn you about that, Lucy," she says with mild concern. "Natsu has a habit of being late."

"Isn't the teacher supposed to be here by now?" I say after noticing there isn't any teacher, substitute or otherwise, within the room.

"That is very strange. Miss Dreyar was here just earlier. I think she had a last minute meeting with the principal, or something," my companion responds in confusion.

Great! Just when I was getting eager to meet her. The others have told me a little about her. From what they said, she is very kind and easy to get along with. They also said that she had a rather upsetting past, but she still acts cheerful every day.

As an extra precaution this morning, I had decided to use some of that concealing makeup for today. If my hood somehow falls down, I don't want anyone to see the scars I have. I don't plan on showing my face to everyone, but I want to be on the safe side. In my experience, you never truly know what will happen.

"Hey, Lev-" The opening of the door interrupts me. Instead of the teacher, however, Mirajane walks through it. She briefly scans the classroom until her eyes land on mine.

"Lucy, you need to come with me." My look of bewilderment prompts her to explain further. "You can leave your things behind. You should be returning later. The Principal would like to see you in his office."

Unable to protest any more, I get up from my desk and meekly follow Mira out of the class. Having lost control of my thoughts, they range anywhere and everywhere. Why does he need to see me? Did I do something wrong? Again? Why do I always end up causing problems? What is going to happen to me? I can't. I just can't understand why I can't do anything right.

Seeing me shaking with apprehension, Mira attempts to comfort me. "I'm pretty sure you aren't in any trouble, Lucy. You can calm down. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. I saw your mom, Virgo, go in there earlier with Aquarius. They probably just want to see if you are having a nice time here, so far."

Despite my lingering doubts, I allow myself to be soothed by her words. It does make sense, after all. I instantly relax and travel at a more leisurely pace. After all, what's the worst they could possibly do to me? Whatever it may be, I know it will not be as bad as what my dad could, and would, do to me.

Just like the time I went through here with Natsu, it's only a short walk from the staircase to the Principal's office. Unlike last time, though, it doesn't go by fast enough. I just want to get this over with. Whatever this is.

I knock softly on the wooden door; by how quiet it is in there, I know they can still hear it. Sure enough, I receive permission to enter without any delay. I enter the room with caution.

Immediately recognizing four of the five people in the room, I am left to wonder who the last person is. I can't see her face since she is looking at VIrgo, only allowing me a view of her from behind. Glancing at Virgo, I note that her face is pale. Like she has just seen a ghost. There is even evidence of tears brimming in her eyes. Virgo doesn't seem to notice me, but the other three acknowledge my presence. Aquarius, Makarov, and Laxus all look my way in expectation.

"Welcome, Lucy. Please, have a seat," Makarov breaks the visible tension in the air. I wonder what is going on here. At his request, I find the seat next to Virgo and plop down into it.

From this angle, I can now see the strange woman's face. "Who are you?" I blurt out without having registered anything, yet. Then, I realize why Virgo is acting so strange right now.

The only thing I can do is emulate her actions. I'm too stunned to do anything else. I'm not prepared to cope with something like this. My brain shoots off into a million different directions. I don't know what I am supposed to think. One stuttered word quietly forces itself through my trembling lips.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Well, here's the next chapter that some of you have been waiting for. I hope it's good enough to appease you all.**

 **I don't know if I should be worried about the lack of negative reviews for this story, but I appreciate that you guys enjoy it so much.**

 **This chapter contains the big reveal that I've been building up to, I hope you guys weren't expecting it! As far as I know, FTfanatic777 is the only one that guessed right, so I think this might be a surprise for the rest of you.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you think about this one and please enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Harsh Realities**

 **Unknown POV**

 _So much pain. This is the most painful moment of my entire life. Yet, at the same time, it is one of the happiest. Here I am, with the man I love, as he does his best to ease my pain. The best he can do is share the pain with me. I squeeze his hand in a vice-like grip. He merely winces while gently squeezing back._

" _Gah!" I scream in agony._

" _It's almost out," the doctor says. "Just one more push."_

 _My vision gets blurry. I'm barely able to remain conscious as I give everything I have into this last push._

" _She's losing too much blood!" a faint shout reaches my ears. "I need help in here!"_

 _My eyelids get too heavy for me to keep them open. Before completely losing consciousness, I hear one final thing. "It's a girl."_

 _I wake up some time later, I don't know how long. Recalling what I last heard, I know my husband will be fine with it. He wanted to have a son so badly, but he is too kind to care what our child is. It won't bother him. After all, there is next time to try._

" _She's awake," he says from next to me so the doctors outside can hear. "Honey, it's okay. They had to take our little girl away for a moment, but they said she should be fine." I nod in understanding._

 _Footsteps draw my attention to the door. The doctor stands there with a grave look on his face. "It was a difficult labor," he says bluntly. "You are lucky to be alive right now. You almost didn't survive," He addresses me. "However, I regret to inform you that your child isn't so lucky."  
_ " _What?" I gasp in horror. "What happened?"_

" _For the moment, she is alive. But the baby is in critical condition. Her breathing is erratic. There isn't much we can do for her. Except hope for a miracle. At this rate, it won't be long before it passes." Shocked by the doctor's words, I start to weep._

" _This can't be happening," my husband finally says after the doctor has left. "This isn't supposed to happen. It would have been stronger if it was a boy," he practically seethes. I've never seen him like this before. He turns his glaring eyes onto me._

" _It isn't anyone's fault," I say to comfort him. I don't stop crying. "Th-these things happen. It-"  
_ " _No!" Did he just yell at me? Why is he behaving so strangely? "It must be your fault! You bore the child! It should have been a boy!" Now he, too, starts to weep. "She's dead! There's nothing you can do to change that!" I just stare at him. He's completely lost his mind. "You should have had a boy! Now, to make matters worse, my company will die with me!" So now his company is more important than me and our child? My sobbing increases. I can't control myself anymore._

 _How could I marry someone that can think such awful things? How did I ever believe in him? No longer._

" _Fine!" I snap back. "I-if that's how you feel, then I'll just go!"_

" _Good! That's the only thing that could make this any better! I don't care if you go! Just get out of my sight!"_

 _I stumble out of the bed and head to the door. "Don't bother looking for me," I scream back to him. "I'm leaving you for good!" My child is dead, and the man I had loved hates me; there is nothing left for me here._

 _He doesn't even lift a finger to try and stop me. With the tears rolling unchecked down my smooth cheeks, I leave. Never looking back. If I had known he could be like this... Well, let's just say I'm glad our child won't have to grow up in an environment like that._

* * *

 **~September 15th~**

It's my first day back, and class hasn't even started, yet. The principal just summoned me away from my students. The few that were early to class, that is. For what reason could Father possibly need me in his office? Knowing him, that old man probably just wants to welcome me back personally. I was only sick for a week. Honestly, he worries about me too much.

Nevertheless, I find myself making soft knocks on his office door.

"Come on in, we've been expecting you," his unmistakeable voice sounds from within. 'We'? Who else is with him? Maybe one of my students got in trouble last week, bringing the parents to the principal. Who could it be this time?

"Father, why did you call me here?" I say as soon as I close the door behind me. "Is there something you need?"

Three of my favorite people are in the small room. It takes me a minute to recognize the fourth person with a pink head of hair. It isn't until she faces me with a look of confusion that I remember everything.

"Virgo! It's been forever!" I move forward to embrace her in a long-awaited hug. "I can't tell you how sorry I am for leaving you." I hadn't even told her that I was leaving. In fact, I just left everything I had at the house with that… _that man_.

I will never forgive him for all the heartache he put me through. I wonder how long Virgo continued to work for him after I was gone. Now that I think about it, what is she even doing here? Not that I mind. It is so heartening to see that she is okay. To just _see_ her after so long.

Stepping back from the hug, I look her in the eyes. "I hope you can forgive me," I plead.

She doesn't respond; she just sits in her seat, staring at me. Her face has gone entirely pale. Tears are on the verge of escaping her blue orbs.

"Virgo, is everything alright? Did something happen?" Then, something suddenly occurs to me. "Do you have a child going to school here?" I exclaim, hoping she says yes. The thought of a little Virgo running around is just too adorable.

When she still doesn't react, I look to the others for some kind of explanation. They are just as bewildered as I am at Virgo's lack of response.

After some time of just staring at one another, the familiar school bell announces the beginning of the school day. "I should go…" I begin in hesitation. I want to stay and find out what's wrong, but I should teach my class.

"No," my father commands. "It would be far better for you to remain here a little longer. There is someone you should meet."

Upon hearing him say that, Virgo briefly glances in his direction, returning her gaze to me right after. Her eyes got wider, if that were possible. Maybe she remembered something she had forgotten up till now? She makes no further move to indicate what she's thinking.

A couple silent minutes later, someone else is knocking on the door behind me. Father tells the person to come in without any hesitation. Despite my curiosity, I refuse to allow myself to look anywhere but at Virgo. Something must be wrong; my friend is acting so strangely.

The other three occupants of the room look to the person that I presume is still behind me. Why doesn't anyone say something?

There is so much tension in the air, I can almost see it. Father soon cuts right through it. "Welcome, Lucy. Please, have a seat."

Lucy. That single word causes unwanted memories to return, bringing so much pain with it. Lucy is what I had wanted to name my daughter, before she died.

I see a hooded figure sit down next to Virgo. I assume this person is female; I can't really see much to verify my assumption. Only her hands are visible as her baggy clothing hides every other inch of her body. Is she afraid of something? Does she have something to hide? Too bad we changed our dress code policy regarding hoodies this year.

"Who are you?" her voice confirms that she is, indeed, female. Then, she abruptly goes as stiff as Virgo. What is up with these two?

Before I can answer her question, I barely make out one word from her. It's almost inaudible, I'm surprised I was able to hear it. This young girl must have been referring to Virgo. That's the only reasonable explanation to what she said. I mean, she certainly couldn't have been calling me 'Mom', could she? No, I think I would remember having a second daughter. And I wouldn't have given her the same name as my first one.

"Hello, I am Ms. Dreyar. I teach English here at Fairy Tail," I stick my hand out for her to shake. She hardly even spares it a glance. Ever cheerful, I shrug it off and withdraw my hand. "And who might you be, Miss?"

When the girl doesn't respond, Aquarius clears her throat. "This young lady is a new student to Fairy Tail," she tells me. "Actually, she is in your homeroom class, as well as your English class. Her name is Lucy Maiden."

Ah, so she is Virgo's daughter. That explains a lot. Well, not really that much, but it's a start. Smiling at her, I turn back to Virgo.

"I'm so happy you became a mother, Virgo," I beam. "Even after all these years, I never did forgive myself for leaving you back there with my… husband." My voice quieted at that word. I loathe to even think about it, at least in relation to me. "After what happened back then, it didn't take long for the divorce papers to be filed. I just needed to get away from him. I hope you can understand and forgive me."

She finally gets released from her daze. Standing up from her chair, she latches onto me. "I thought you were dead!" she sobs while squeezing the life out of me. "Jude came back and said you had died, Layla! He said you were gone."

At that moment, Virgo's daughter jumps out of her chair and runs out the door. Laxus makes an attempt to catch her, but he misses his mark. We all stare after the girl when she's gone.

Something is seriously wrong, here. And I seem to be the only one that doesn't know why.

* * *

 **Lucy POV**

"M-mom," I stutter quietly.

My mind wanders, not paying attention to what any of these people are saying. This woman can't be my mother. It just isn't possible. Virgo told me she was dead. She shouldn't be alive. She said that my mother died giving birth to me. And Virgo wouldn't lie about something like that. Or would she? Maybe if she thought it would protect me from getting hurt. She always has to protect me from something.

But by the look I saw on her face, she was just as stunned as I was. Virgo definitely wasn't expecting to see my mother again. Ever. So, she must've truly believed her to be dead. But why?

This woman looks so much like me, or rather, I look so much like her, that it can't be mere coincidence. She _has_ to be my real mother. So why did Virgo claim she was dead? Did Virgo even see her die? I doubt it. I recall her telling me that she wasn't with my mother when it happened. That she never even got to see her body. That my demon of a father simply brought me home without my mother after I was born.

The only situation that makes any sense to me is that my mother somehow faked her death. But why would she do that? That's easy. To get away from me. Just like everyone else I tried to befriend before I moved here. I'm sure my current friends only hang out with me because they pity me.

My own mother must have hated me even more than my father does. He actually took me home and let Virgo raise me. My mom apparently didn't want anything to do with me. She did not want to raise someone as ugly and stupid as I am. She left me at the mercy of my abusive father. And after all the things he did to me, she still never returned.

I now think that my father knew this whole time. At least he cared enough to let me believe she was dead. It would have hurt even more thinking she was out there somewhere, alive. Hating me too much to even look at me after I came out of her. Even at this very moment, she doesn't see me as her child. She forgot about me. She thinks I am someone else entirely.

She could have saved me. She could have been there. She had the power to stop my father from laying a finger on me. Yet she did nothing. All my life, I was blamed for her not being around. For her death. And here she stands. Acting like nothing has happened. Treating me like any other kid in school. Not being the mother I have always wanted to meet.

I start to feel a familiar itch. On my arms. On my heart. One that never goes away until I force it to. I haven't had to do that since school started, but now I feel the need to do it again. To relieve myself of all of this pain I can't understand. All this pain that I don't want. I think that what I am currently feeling is worse than most of the times my father beat me. Almost, but not quite, as bad as all the times he… touched me.

Betrayed. That is the predominant feeling in my chest right now. I feel betrayed and left to fend for myself. Also, abandoned and discarded. Tossed aside. My whole life I've felt like this, but only now do I realize what it is. And where this feeling is coming from. If she had just stayed and been a mother to me, I could have had a normal life. I could be like everyone else, with a happy family. Instead of a broken one with a terrible father and a shattered childhood.

That itch. There's only one way I know of that will make it go away. Just like on the day I found out the worst thing imaginable. The day I couldn't take it anymore. The day of my sixteenth birthday, just a few months ago. The day I found out I was pregnant; that day, just like everyday once I had turned 15, I had cut. And that's the only thing I can do now. My only desire. My only form of release.

Getting out of my chair next to Virgo, I dash out of the room, easily dodging Laxus on the way. I sprint towards the nearest restroom. I go through several hallways, around many corners.

I longingly caress the knife I have in my pocket. Zooming past all the classrooms on this floor, I don't stop. Not at the shouts calling my name, which become more distant by the second. And most definitely not at the blur of pink that I pass. Not even when I hear footsteps behind me.

Entering the girls' restroom, I slam the door shut and pull out my knife. Quickly checking if anyone else is in here, I breath a sigh of relief. It's always easier when I'm alone. It's what I'm used to, after all. No one to stop me. No one to judge me. No one to hurt me.

I don't care if I have to go to the hospital after this. I just want it all to end. Doing what I do best, I get down to business. Anything to take the pain away.

* * *

 **No POV- Somewhere Else**

"Look everywhere. Leave no stone unturned," a man in a suit instructs those gathered before him.

"If that is what you wish," another replied. "That is, if the pay is good enough."

"Don't worry about that. If your mission is a success, you will have more than you could possibly imagine," the first man returned.

"What are we even looking for?" a young woman yawned in detachment.

He pulls out a photo and hands it around. "This is what you're after."

"That's all? Shouldn't be too hard," the second man snickered.

"It is of the utmost importance that you bring it back to me. _Unbroken_ , if possible," the first stressed to them. "There is still much I plan to do with it."

"If it's so important to you, then maybe you shouldn't have lost it," a third man sneered.

"I didn't lose it!" the first man growled viciously. "It was stolen from me! By some ungrateful bitch! If I had been there, it would not have escaped my grasp."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," the woman waved it off. "And just where do you want us to look for it? We need somewhere to start."

"I would have retrieved it by now if I knew where to look for it!" The middle-aged man looked irritated at her stupidity. "As I said, send teams out to everywhere and anywhere you can think of. All the expenses will be paid for. With a special bonus for the ones that find my treasure."

"What do we do once we've found it?" the second man asked. "Do we bring it to you?"

"No, not right away. Notify me if you do find it. We'll have to observe it for a little while before we can move in to take it back." He gave each of them a cellphone. "You can reach me on these. Here is your advance payment." The man then hands them each a bag of money.

"Woah!" the third said after looking into his bag. "This is a lot. Why do you care so much about this object, anyway?" he sneers.

"It belongs to me! No one else can have it. No one else must touch it. I want it back at all costs."

"What do we do about the thief? Kill 'em?" The second man looks at him eagerly.

"Do whatever you want. Bring 'em to me, as well as my treasure, and you might just get extra. Dead or alive." The first man watches them prepare to leave. He takes notice of the fourth man, the one that hasn't spoken. The one covered in tattoos.

Something about him terrifies the man. Perhaps it's the look on his face. Cold and impassive. Even for a killer. His reputation alone would frighten a normal man. Why did he even respond to the first man's summons? There is usually only one type of job he would take, and retrieval of a stolen object is not it.

All four of these people came at his call. The woman is the only one that hasn't done a job for him before. Her father was too busy this time, so he sent her to take his place. The man in the suit didn't care who it was, just as long as his will was carried out.

"Here," the woman hands the photo back to him. "We all took a picture of it. It won't be a problem." She smirks, knowing she has it memorized. She was going to impress her father with this mission, something she had never done before.

"It had better not be," he scowls, looking down at the picture in his hands. "You better find it soon. And bring her back to me…"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I am extremely sorry it took so long for this. More than a month! Can you believe it?**

 **The only excuses I have is that I was really busy for part of that time. And after having my birthday on father's day, which is when I had planned to update originally, I was just out of it. I felt more compelled to read other fanfictions for FT, as well as the manga, rather than write.**

 **But now, I think I am back into it. Again, so sorry for the wait. I actually had most of this chapter already written, I just went into procrastination mode. I'm sure at least some of you can understand what that's like.**

 **So here it is. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Running From the Truth**

 **Lucy POV**

" _Happy birthday, Lucy!" my maid surprises me after I've walked into our large kitchen. She's holding a cake in her hands; it has 15 flaming candles sitting in it. That's right, I had forgotten today was my fifteenth birthday. It's not like I have any reason to remember. It just means that I've been living like this for the past 9 years._

" _You shouldn't have done this, Virgo," I sigh. Really, it would be better if she hadn't._

" _Don't worry about a thing, Princess," she says. "Your father is pretty busy with his work right now. He won't find out. I'm just sorry I couldn't make the cake any bigger without attracting his attention," she pouted._

 _It has been many years since father let Virgo and I celebrate my birthday. It just reminds him that he hates my existence._

" _Make a wish, Princess!" She holds the cake in front of my face so I can blow out the candles._

 _Taking only a moment to think of my wish, I cherish this moment as I extinguish the small flames. Virgo doesn't waste any time to take them out and cut the cake._

 _Being rather quiet, Virgo and I finish the cake in no time. I don't care if I get fat from it; we just can't leave any evidence for my father to find._

" _That was amazing, Virgo!" I applaud her baking skills. It never ceases to appease me. "Thanks for this. I'm glad that you care so much for me, Virgo."_

" _You deserve a moment of happiness, Princess. I'm just glad I can be here for you." She then has a mental debate with herself, or so I assume from her expression. "Lucy, I have a present I want to give you."_

" _That's too much, Virgo," I chuckle. "But thanks, anyway. What is it?"_

" _I can't give it to you yet, it's too risky here." What could it be? "Come on, Lucy." She gently grabs my arm and pulls me with her. "I have everything ready. Once we're gone, I'll give it to you."  
My head tilts to the side in confusion. "What do you mean by that? You have everything ready for what?"_

" _We're leaving," she replies bluntly. "Tonight. I won't watch you suffer anymore."_

" _But we can't go!" I say in distress. "Father will find-" My words are cut short by maniacal laughter._

" _How right you are, my_ princess _," he sneers the word. "I'm disappointed in you, Virgo. I thought you were smarter than this. It's time for some punishment."_

 _He violently yanks on my arm and pulls me out of the room. Virgo rushes to stop him._

" _Stay back!" He backhands her, causing Virgo to fall to the floor. "This is between me and my daughter. Interfere with us tonight, and you'll be dead." The malice in his voice leaves us with no doubt at his words._

 _Wait. What does he mean by 'tonight'? He usually leaves me alone to sleep. What is he planning?_

" _Get in there, bitch!" he shoves me into his room. His bedroom. Just what is he going to do? He merely laughs at my worried expression. "You know, you look so much like you mother." He caresses my cheek, making me flinch away from him. "I don't like that at all."_

 _Suddenly, he pushes me roughly onto his bed, holding me down as I struggle. His lust-filled eyes let me know what he is planning to do to me._

" _Please don't do this!" I beg him._

" _Shut up, you bitch! This is what you get for trying to leave me." His hand hits my face, leaving a stinging sensation as tears fall from my eyes. He then takes off his belt and uses it to tie my hands together to the bedpost._

 _Why is he doing this to me?_

 _Fear. And pain. That's all I felt that night. Never ending. Until I was finally alone._

 _What did I ever do to deserve any of this? Is my life worth so little to him? If that's true, then I will finally do it. What I was too afraid to try before._

 _That was the night I made the first cut. And it wasn't the last time either of those things happened._

* * *

 **~September 15th~**

 **Natsu POV**

Stupid teacher. Sending me out of class. All because I was 'disrupting' the 'learning process'. I can't control my stomach. It isn't my fault that it was growling so loudly. I'm starving here!

Maybe I should have gotten up earlier to eat some breakfast. Lucy did call for me to wake up several times this morning. I was already awake before she even got to my house, just laying on my bed. I only waited so long because I wanted to hear her calling for me.

Wait, what? Why did I just think that? What's wrong with me? I should probably stop thinking so much to myself. It hurts.

Now, where's the food? I'm sure that Macao won't mind if I sneak into the school cafeteria for a bite to eat. After all, that's the only way to stop my stomach from complaining so much.

I think it's down this hallway. Mmmm, I can smell it, now! I better hurry before they put it all away.

Whoa! Who just flew by me? Blonde hair, and she's wearing a hood. That's Lucy!

"Lucy, wait up!" I call after her. "What's wrong?" I don't know why, but I'm pretty sure those were tears on her face. Both curious and concerned, I begin to chase after her.

Where is she going? Who made her cry? Whoever it was will have to answer to me!

"Lucy!" She still doesn't stop. It's like she doesn't even hear me. Or doesn't want to hear me. "Where are you going, Lucy?" I follow her through a couple hallways. She is already way ahead of me.

As I turn the last corner, I see Lucy go into the girl's restroom at the far end. Stopping for only a moment to consider if I should follow her in there, I start moving towards the restrooms. I can tell that she needs someone right now, if only to just be there for her.

Slamming the door open, I immediately shout, "Lucy! Where are you?"

"Natsu…" she croaks, drawing my attention to her location. My eyes widen in shock and my heart aches for her as a gasp escapes my lips.

She's sitting to the left of the door with her back against the wall. That isn't what startled me, however.

"Luce, what did you do?" My voice is much more gentle this time.

Her shaking hand holds a knife. Blood covers its blade. Two long cuts are carved into her left arm, more blood gushing from them. I note that several other similar scars mark both of her arms. She poises the blade in an attempt to continue what she had started.

I don't hesitate to kneel next to her and rip the knife away. I throw it out of her reach. "Lucy, why are you doing this? What happened?"

"Give it back!" she shrieks at me. She makes a lunge for her knife, but I catch her and hold her back down. "No! Get away from me! Leave me alone!"

"What's the matter, Lucy?" She struggles against me, but my grip is firm. "I won't let you hurt yourself like this. Just let me help you!"

"No! It's the only way. Let me do it! It hurts too much!"

"The only way for what, Lucy? Tell me what's wrong and you can get through this," I try to reason with her, but she just won't listen.

"You don't understand!" Then, to my surprise, she buries her face against my chest and begins to sob. "You don't understand. Nobody does! It hurts so much. I just want it to go away!"

I soothingly pat her head as her body shakes uncontrollably. I am able to sense so much pent up frustration and despair within her; it makes me wonder how long she's been holding it back.

"It's okay to let it out, Lucy. It always helps to say your problems out loud. Especially if someone is there to listen to them." Deciding it would be better to deal with her internal pain first, I try to coax her into sharing with me. "Lucy, you have to give people a chance to understand what you're going through."

"How would you know? How could you possibly know what it's like?" She almost seethes with rage. "You don't know what I've been through!"

"That is why you should let someone in. Whenever you are ready to tell them, that is. And I may not have experienced whatever it is that you have, but I do know what it's like to give up hope," I reveal.

They are painful memories for me, but it will probably help her if I share them. Besides, I've already accepted them and moved on. They don't bother me anymore. I no longer feel any guilt over them, either.

"What do you mean, Natsu?" Her question interrupts my thoughts. "What happened to you?"

"Well," I begin, trying to figure out where to start. "My childhood wasn't the greatest. It wasn't particularly bad, mind you. It's just that, some bad things happened."

"Like what?" I can see that my plan is working, now that she isn't freaking out so much. She seems a little interested in my story. "If it you don't mind telling me, I mean."

"It's no problem, Luce." I grin toothily at her. "When I was little, my house caught on fire. When it was all over, there wasn't much of anything left. Luckily, me and my dad weren't there when it started." I take a breath before I continue. "But, the horrible thing is, my mother was inside the house. She didn't make it out in time."  
Lucy puts a hand over her mouth and lets out a gasp. "I'm so sorry for you, Natsu."

"No need to feel sorry, Luce. You didn't cause it to happen. Don't be weird." That comment receives me a scowl from her. "Anyway, that isn't even the worst that happened that day. My older brother was supposed to be home with mom that day, but he wasn't found. They couldn't find any trace of him. He just disappeared. Some of them even thought that it was him that started the fire, but my father just shut them down. He wouldn't hear anything of the sort."

"You had a brother?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know him that well. I was only four, after all. He was about five years older than me," I explain.

"What do you think happened to him? Could he still be alive?" Lucy seems somewhat hesitant to be asking about my past, but it doesn't bother me at all.

"I don't really know. I bet he is alive, but I don't know if he even remembers me." I sigh in anticipated disappointment at the possible reunion. "When I was ten, my dad left to go to work like usual. Only, this time, he never returned. He was a pilot. A few days after he was supposed to have been back, me and my uncle got a report that his plane crashed. They were unable to retrieve his body."  
"I can't imagine what that must have been like, Natsu." That's funny. I caught just a hint of some emotion that's unnatural for her. It seemed like jealousy, but what could she possibly be jealous of?

"Yeah, it was tough on both of us. But at least it means there is still a slim chance that he survived." Telling these things to someone new is a little relieving, to be honest. "Then, about two years, something else happened." I begin to slowly take my scarf off and place it in my lap.

"What is it?"

"I started dating one of my childhood friends. But we soon realized that things weren't working out for us, so we ended up breaking up. We were still on good terms, but things were a little awkward," I chuckle lightly at the memory. "Not too long after, though, she got in a car wreck. Both of her parents died, at that moment, and she was left in a coma."

"Natsu," she startles me, yet again, by reaching out to lightly touch my cheek. "You've been through so much. How do you deal with it?" Her eyes are almost pleading with me for the answer.

"Honestly, Lucy, after that, I just felt so guilty about it. I even thought things might be better off without me," I admit. "But I disregarded that notion after a couple of weeks. I realized it wasn't my fault at all. That I didn't cause any of it. That I couldn't stop it if I had tried. That is what you should do, too, Lucy. You need to let it all go. Don't blame yourself for the bad things that happen in this world."

"But I can't do that, Natsu." She starts to cry again. "I just can't."

"It'll take some time, Luce. Just give it time."

'O-okay. I'll try." Another sob follows. "Who was she? Where is she now?"

Despite my story, a happy look spreads across my face. "That's the good part, Lucy. Several months ago, she woke up. She was saddened to hear about her parents, but she didn't give up. And her siblings were extra cheerful for many days afterward. They, too, hadn't given up hope for her recovery. Now, she's about as healthy as she was before it happened."

"Natsu," she pouts. "You still haven't told me who she is."

"Why? Are ya jealous?" I tease with a smirk.

Her face lights up to a noticeable pink. "N-no! No," She waves her hands in front of her, sending pain through her arm as she grimaces. "I'm just curious, Natsu."

"I'm just messing with ya, Luce," my laughter echoes off the walls. "Actually, you already know her."

"I do?" She tilts her head with a puzzled look.

"Yeah! It was Lisanna. Promise you won't tell her I told you about the two of us?" I beg her.

"Okay, Natsu. Thanks for telling me all of that."

Those were her last words before her eyes closed and her breathing slowed down. She had passed out.

* * *

 **Layla POV**

We all stand there for a few moments, just staring at the open door the girl ran through. None of us could comprehend what had caused her outburst. Then Mirajane poked her head into the office.

"What happened? Do we need to go after her?" Mira's simple questions broke all of us out of our stupor.

"We have to hurry! She needs to be stopped before it's too late!" Virgo shouts frantically. The five of us follow Virgo into the hallway. "We've got to find her. Did you see where she was heading?" she asks of Mira.

"Yeah, she went this way. What is going on?" The concern from the young female made me all the more aware that I still have no clue what caused this Lucy to react that way.

Laxus said something to Mira, probably telling her what we saw.

"Virgo, do you know what she's doing?" questioned my father. "Is this normal for her? Or is it just because of what she saw?"

"I think she couldn't handle it," she replied. "Jude told us that Layla was dead. Neither of us had any clue that she was still alive. You should probably call for the nurse to join us."

My curiosity getting the best of me, I ask, "Why do we need the nurse? Is your daughter hurt, Virgo?" Then, as a sudden realization hits me, I find myself with another mystery. "Why would Jude tell you I was dead?"

And here I was, thinking he couldn't be any more of an ass than he already was.

While we continued through the school, Virgo turned to look at me. "Layla," she began. "When he came back to the mansion that day," I could guess what day she was referring to, "he told me that you died giving birth. He was never the same since that day. He became a monster."

Why do I get the feeling that there is something she isn't saying?

Going up to some student at his locker, we stopped and asked if he had seen anything.

"Yeah. The new girl ran into that restroom there. I think she was being chased by someone," he told us.

Hurrying into the room, we see Natsu sitting down next to the girl, holding her gently in his arms.

Virgo speaks up first. "Natsu, how is she?" Without waiting for his reply, she goes to inspect her.

"I think she'll be okay. But she needs to go to the nurse soon, or else it might get worse." Natsu doesn't look up from her as he speaks.

What might get worse? I almost ask. I see blood on Natsu's arms before I am able to, though. Upon closer inspection, I see a cloth wrapped around Lucy's left arm; though it is stained with red, I can tell that it must be Natsu's scarf.

"Did she do this herself?" Mira gasps.

"She must've used this." Aquarius picks up a bloody knife from across the room.

"I cleaned her wounds as best as I could," Natsu says slowly. "I guess it's a good thing I skipped breakfast this morning. I wouldn't have been here to see her run by."

"Natsu, tell me," Virgo commands. "How many times did she do it?"

"Only twice. I got in here before she could continue." It is then that he looks up. "Anyone want to tell me what caused her to do this?"

I step forward to answer. "We don't really know. She just ran…" My sentence goes unfinished with my surprise.

With the view I have now, I am able to see something that I had missed before. The hood that she was wearing fell off her head, finally giving me a clear look at her face.

"I knew I recognized her from somewhere!" Natsu exclaims excitedly, before he quickly calmed back down. "That explains a lot."  
"How is this possible…" My shocked whisper is all I can say.

* * *

 **Unknown POV- Somewhere Else**

"Hello? Boss?" I say into the phone.

"Have you found her yet?" His impatient reply irritates me. If it weren't for the money, I would go to someone else.

"It's only been a day, sir. I just called to tell you I have a plan."

"If she isn't found, I'll make sure you all go down." I could well imagine how he would do that. "What sort of plan do you have?"

"That rotten school in Magnolia is having some visitation thing in a few weeks. Many other schools will be there. So there is a good chance that the target may appear in Magnolia during that time. I will have my people go to look for her." I can already imagine my reward for when they find her.

There is a moment of silence from the man, as if he is considering it. "Okay, go ahead. But don't get caught. I will send the others to look elsewhere in the meantime." Then he hung up.

Leaning back in my chair, I had my assistant confirm our school's attendance for that event.


End file.
